Zhang Ruochen, with the mindset of treating a dead horse as if it were alive, took out one King Sacred Artifact after another.
Whether on the Merit Battlefield of the Kunlun Realm or the Hunting Heaven Battlefield, Zhang Ruochen had seized many King Sacred Artifacts. The number he possessed alone rivalled the total held by an entire great world.
Xiao Hei picked up a dark red spear, its body ancient and interwoven with blood patterns, emitting a faint divine aura. Its eyes lit up with joy as it said, “Though only a Three-Yuan King Sacred Artifact, it’s also a divine relic. Good stuff.”
“The Flame Void Sword, forged with Flame Iron Divine Marrow, a Two-Yuan King Sacred Artifact… Well, it’ll do, barely.”
…
Every King Sacred Artifact Zhang Ruochen presented was extraordinary, enough to make Great Sages envious.
Yet Xiao Hei was picky, taking considerable time to select the twenty-eight King Sacred Artifacts. Naturally, not all reached the Three-Yuan level; many were still at the Two-Yuan level.
But Xiao Hei was secretly thrilled.
Its initial hope was to gather twenty-eight One-Yuan King Sacred Artifacts, which would have been satisfying enough. It hadn’t expected Zhang Ruochen to be even wealthier than imagined.
No wonder so many cultivators from the Heavenly Court and Hell Realm wanted to kill him. It wasn’t without reason.
Though Zhang Ruochen’s immense luck had claimed many beautiful resources, only humanoid cultivators were jealous of that. The real reason he was a universal enemy was his treasures, which surpassed even those of divine beings, akin to a walking secret vault.
If not him, who else would they kill?
Xiao Hei suppressed its excitement, twisting its beak into a disappointed expression and said, “With this scrap metal you’ve brought out, you want to set up the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths God-Slaying, Demon-Destroying Grand Array? Sigh, in this Emperor’s view, we need to focus on the Supreme Sacred Artifacts, or the array’s power will be worrisome.”
Zhang Ruochen sneered repeatedly and said, “I’ve never seen anyone consume so much to craft an array.”
“Your vision is too narrow. In the way of arrays, you haven’t even reached the level of an entry-level apprentice in front of this Emperor,” Xiao Hei urged again. “Hurry up. Crafting a sub-divine array isn’t something done overnight. Tell you what, hand over the Hidden Mountain Demon Mirror, the Purple Gold Gourd, and the Sundial to this Emperor, and I guarantee we’ll forge a killing array that sweeps the world.”
“Keep dreaming.”
Zhang Ruochen reached into his spatial ring and pulled out a tower.
Xiao Hei snatched it, examined it for a while, and said, “Shang Zi’e’s Ten Thousand Refinement Tower? Though it has supreme inscriptions, it takes seven such towers to form a complete Supreme Sacred Artifact. This one is, at best, one-seventh of a Supreme Sacred Artifact. Swap it for something else, quick.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “If you don’t want it, give it back.”
Xiao Hei hurriedly tucked the Ten Thousand Refinement Tower away and said, “Fine, it’s a Supreme Sacred Artifact after all, with power surpassing King Sacred Artifacts. It’ll do, barely.”
Next, Zhang Ruochen took out the Golden Crow Ancient Cauldron.
As soon as the cauldron appeared, it radiated dazzling light, its powerful energy fluctuations rolling like divine ocean waves.
Xiao Hei’s eyes blazed as it pounced, clutching the Golden Crow Ancient Cauldron with both claws, trembling with excitement. “Good! Fantastic! You’ve finally brought out a heavy hitter. With this cauldron, the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths God-Slaying, Demon-Destroying Grand Array has its soul.”
The Golden Crow Ancient Cauldron was something Zhang Ruochen had seized from the Blazing Sun Twin Kings in the Dragon God Hall ruins.
This cauldron was once a powerful Supreme Sacred Artifact of the Blazing Sun Civilization, wielded by a divine being.
It was later damaged, its spirit extinguished.
Only after a new spirit was born did it regain the status of a Supreme Sacred Artifact, brought by the Blazing Sun Twin Kings to the Merit Battlefield of the Kunlun Realm. Ultimately, it fell into Zhang Ruochen’s hands.
For the third item, Zhang Ruochen took out the Light Heaven Book, seized from Zhou Yu.
Xiao Hei grabbed it, flipped through it briefly, then tossed it aside, saying, “Just a replica of the Light Heaven Book. Though crafted by a divine being and bearing supreme inscriptions, it’s still a step below a true Supreme Sacred Artifact. Besides, this book requires cultivating the Path of Light to refine and use. Swap it, swap it.”
The true Light Heaven Book is a divine artifact, stored in the Light Temple, a treasure of the Heaven Realm.
Zhang Ruochen retrieved the Light Heaven Book and took out the Twelve Judgment Swords.
The Twelve Judgment Swords were seized from the twelve Judgment Envoys of the Heaven Realm.
Xiao Hei picked up each sword, tapped and felt them, and said, “When combined, the Twelve Judgment Swords are indeed a set of Supreme Sacred Artifacts. But individually, they’re merely King Sacred Artifacts with only king-level inscriptions. The Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions Grand Array I’m crafting hinges on the Three Enclosures.”
“The Ten Thousand Refinement Tower is for trapping, the Golden Crow Ancient Cauldron for suppression, but we still lack a great killing weapon. Just give me the Hidden Mountain Demon Mirror.”
Zhang Ruochen put away the Twelve Judgment Swords and took out a black gold staff brimming with deathly aura.
This staff, seized from a Bone Clan powerhouse in the Dragon God Hall ruins, was named the “Black Gold Heaven-Battling Pillar.”
Upon seeing the Black Gold Heaven-Battling Pillar, Xiao Hei’s eyes lit up again. It channelled holy qi into it, causing the staff to grow larger, its supreme power intensifying.
Fortunately, they were in the Seven-Star Emperor Palace, or the might of a Supreme Sacred Artifact would have shaken Goddess City.
“Great treasure! Got anything else?” Xiao Hei looked at Zhang Ruochen with eager anticipation.
Zhang Ruochen then took out a giant axe, ten zhang long, dark and heavy, with a giant spirit general depicted on each side of the blade.
Though not activated with holy qi, the axe’s murderous aura already made Xiao Hei shiver, as if countless wailing souls echoed in its ears.
“The Titan Ghost Axe, perfect!” Xiao Hei pressed itself against the Titan Ghost Axe, stroking its surface as if caressing a peerless beauty, and said, “You even seized this Supreme Sacred Artifact from the Titan Temple. I’m starting to understand why you’re certain Heaven Realm cultivators will come to Ice King Star to kill you. You’ve taken so many treasures from the Heaven Realm, you’ve probably enraged their divine beings. If they don’t kill you, their minds won’t be at peace.”
The Titan Ghost Axe was taken from the Titan Six Generals.
The Titan Temple is a highly powerful temple in the Heaven Realm.
“Got any more Supreme Sacred Artifacts? Take them all out, let this Emperor pick again. This Ten Thousand Refinement Tower is rubbish, it needs replacing, or the array’s power will be lacking.”
Xiao Hei desperately wanted to snatch Zhang Ruochen’s spatial ring outright.
Zhang Ruochen said, “The Ten Thousand Refinement Tower can both trap and suppress. I think it’s quite suitable.”
Still want more?
Keep dreaming!
“Fine, fine, look at your stingy attitude. You’ve got none of the boldness of a Yuan Epoch genius,” Xiao Hei shook its head and sighed.
Stingy?
Even divine beings don’t have such generosity.
Zhang Ruochen ignored it and took out thousands of array-crafting materials, piling them into a small mountain, shimmering with vibrant colours and brimming with treasure aura. Each material was immensely valuable.
The value of these auxiliary materials alone was comparable to half a Supreme Sacred Artifact.
As for the divine corpse Xiao Hei wanted, Zhang Ruochen considered giving it the skeletal body of Pink Skeleton.
However, Pink Skeleton’s body was stored in the Qiankun Realm, so that plan was abandoned.
Instead, Zhang Ruochen took out the divine python corpse and handed it over.
The divine python corpse was unearthed from the Northern Region of the Kunlun Realm and had fused with an evil spirit. Unfortunately, in the battle against Heaven Realm cultivators in the Central Imperial City, the evil spirit was severely injured and has been in a half-dead state ever since.
Now, using the divine python corpse as the carrier for the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions Grand Array, the evil spirit could serve as the array’s spirit.
After making arrangements, Zhang Ruochen left Xiao Hei in the “Star Artifact Palace” of the Seven-Star Emperor Palace and went to the “Star Technique Palace.”
The Seven-Star Emperor Palace contains seven palaces. The Star Artifact Palace was where Blood Absolute War God once refined artifacts, equipped with various materials, holy furnaces, heavenly fire, and more, sufficient to meet Xiao Hei’s needs for crafting the array.
The Star Technique Palace, meanwhile, was where Blood Absolute War God practised holy techniques.
The hall’s space is vast, with special arrays and divine inscriptions on the walls and floor. Even high-tier holy techniques unleashed here would have their destructive energy absorbed by the arrays, causing minimal disturbance.
Moreover, the palace houses Blood Absolute War God’s insights on practising holy techniques, each volume incredibly valuable.
Zhang Ruochen was well aware that he couldn’t pin all his hopes on Xiao Hei. He had to make himself stronger.
He took out the Desire Mind Pill, its radiance illuminating the ancient, luxurious hall.
This was a quasi-emperor-grade holy pill, its spirit manifesting as an adorable little girl, three or four years old, with cultivation at the Thousand Questions Realm. She wasn’t ferocious but appeared gentle and beautiful, making one reluctant to consume her.
Inside the pill, the little girl pouted, saying pitifully, “Big brother, are you going to eat me?”
“Worthily the spirit of the Desire Mind Pill, it truly strikes at the heart,” Zhang Ruochen said.
The little girl’s eyes reddened as she said, “From the moment I was born, I was a pill. My life isn’t my own; I’m food for whoever my master gives me to. But I’m a life too. I want to live, to see the world outside, to have a happy childhood like human children. Big brother, can you spare me?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “You’re trying to exploit my kindness to escape. If it were the old me, I might have let you go. Stop pretending, show your true form.”
He pointed a finger, striking the Desire Mind Pill.
Instantly, the little girl let out a miserable scream, her face turning ferocious before dissipating into a white butterfly.
“It’s time to break the final shackle and reach the Great Perfection of the Hundred Shackles Realm.”
“The Desire Mind, the hardest barrier.”
Zhang Ruochen’s qi sea had mostly recovered, and his holy soul was back at its peak, so he didn’t want to wait any longer.
But his desire was too strong, making it hard to break through on his own. He had to rely on the pill to force a breakthrough.
He grabbed the Desire Mind Pill and swallowed it.
“Whoosh—”
Zhang Ruochen’s body lit up like a holy lamp, radiating dazzling light. His mind became clear and transparent, miscellaneous thoughts washed away like dust, and his body felt lighter.
It was an incomparably wonderful sensation, as the various emotions weighing on his heart—fear, guilt, hardship, pain, confusion—vanished in an instant.
“Now’s the time to break the shackle.”
