Tension appeared in Kong Lanyou’s eyes as she realised something was seriously wrong.
Chi Yao stared deeply at Zhang Ruochen, gave a mocking smile, shook her head, and sighed lightly. “This is the reason you made me swear? Brother Chen, do you think I will listen to you?”
“I know that oath cannot bind you. You also played tricks with the wording on the oath.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “But this is the inner space of the Sixth Ancestor’s Zen Exposition Diagram. It is my world. Do you think I have been holding back from coming under this Bodhi tree, lying in the Spring of Life, really just healing? I was using my mental power to probe this world, calculating if I could suppress you in this world.”
He paused, then said, “If you refuse to keep the oath, I can only use forceful means.”
As he spoke, Zhang Ruochen cut his wrist again and sprinkled his blood onto the golden Buddhist soil.
Immediately, more Sanskrit characters emerged in this heaven and earth, appearing around Chi Yao and confining her within.
Zhang Ruochen’s martial cultivation was indeed crippled, but when he passed the divine tribulation, his mental power had broken through to the seventy-second rank. With such powerful mental power, and in the Sixth Ancestor’s Zen Exposition Diagram, he was confident he could confine Chi Yao.
Chi Yao ignored the Sanskrit characters around her. The mocking expression on her face grew stronger. She said, “In the Abyss of Darkness, you told me a truth. No matter the reason, being hurt by the person you love most is the hardest to bear. Forcing your own will onto me, is that not hurting me? Have you already forgotten the truth you taught me?”
“I have not forgotten! But what I am doing now is not exactly what we discussed eighteen hundred years ago? Back then, we already knew that only one person could cultivate the complete Ming Wang Scripture. The other must sacrifice, must make way.”
Zhang Ruochen was willing to sacrifice himself to complete her. How could Chi Yao not be moved?
Nothing showed more clearly that she held incomparable weight in Zhang Ruochen’s heart. Any man making such a sacrifice for a woman was an expression of true love, the most sincere confession in the world.
She should be happy.
But she could not be.
This was what she had hoped for, yet not what she wanted.
Crystal tears welled up in Chi Yao’s eyes. She said, “What I cultivate is the virtual scroll. Only I can complete you. You cannot. Eighteen hundred years ago, I won. You lost. You must live well. You have no other choice.”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. “Actually, the Holy Monk never said that only the virtual scroll can complete the real scroll. It was all our own understanding. We thought only the virtual could complete the real, but in fact, the real can also complete the virtual.”
“Now, my divine source and qi sea are both shattered. My path forward is cut off. Of course, it is me who must complete you.”
Chi Yao shook her head vigorously. Tears fell from her eyes, hanging on her jade-like face.
She mobilised the divine qi in her body. Seven-coloured divine light emanated from her, but the Sanskrit characters suspended in space acted like seals, landing on her body and suppressing her so she could not move.
This was the power of the Sixth Ancestor and the Sumeru Holy Monk. It was not something a mid-level god like her could resist.
A smile appeared on Zhang Ruochen’s pale and sickly face. He said, “Yao Yao, why must your emotions be so intense? It is just transmitting cultivation. It is not life and death parting. Did the Holy Monk ever say that after transmission, the other person will definitely die?”
Chi Yao calmed slightly. She said, “The Holy Monk said that once we cultivate the Thirty-Three Heavens, it means separation. Is the meaning not clear enough?”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. “You have not understood the Holy Monk’s true meaning. The Holy Monk meant that the one cultivating the Thirty-Three Heavens will likely become a powerhouse like the Immovable Ming Wang Great Venerable, with a long lifespan. The other, having lost cultivation through transmission, will inevitably have a short lifespan. That is the true meaning of separation!”
“But I am a mental power god! And my mental power talent is very high. Even if I transmit to you, I can still pass the eon tribulation. I might even become an existence like the Supreme Elder. My lifespan will not be much shorter than yours. The Holy Monk was wrong in his calculation. He underestimated me.”
Chi Yao showed a half-believing, half-doubting expression. “Is that really true?”
“It is my guess! But do you not think this is the fact?”
Zhang Ruochen continued, “Actually, even if I transmit to you, I still have a chance to continue cultivating martial arts. Like the Blood Spirit Immortal, even after multiple realm falls, she could recultivate to the divine realm. I can find a way too.”
Chi Yao said, “The Blood Spirit Immortal’s cultivation method is special. It is the Undying Blood Silkworm. And her martial foundation was not destroyed, so she could recultivate. But your qi sea was ground to nothing by Qing Zu. Even a new qi sea cannot form. How can you recultivate martial arts?”
“Is that so? I did not know that!”
How could Zhang Ruochen not know?
The world knew only of the Blood Spirit Immortal, but not that many cultivators practised the Undying Blood Silkworm, yet only three succeeded. The rest, once killed, truly died! After having their cultivation crippled, they could never reach the Great Saint realm again, let alone the divine realm.
It took countless people to produce one Blood Spirit Immortal.
Just like when Zhang Ruochen went to the Taichu “singularity” to cultivate the first-grade saint intent. His body and soul turned into particles. It was not inevitable that he could recondense his body. It was only under perfect conditions of time, place, and people that he fought for a one-in-billion chance.
But he could not say these things.
Because he needed to convince Chi Yao, so he added, “Qing Zu is strong, but perhaps the Supreme Master has a way to help me restore my qi sea. Besides, there are countless profound methods in the world. It is not necessary to have a qi sea to cultivate martial arts. Stepping back ten thousand steps, with you cultivating the Thirty-Three Heavens, why must I cultivate martial arts?”
“You are sure there is no life danger?” Chi Yao said.
Zhang Ruochen said, “I have refined the White苍 Blood Soil, cultivated to absolute physical dao transformation, and am a mental power god. How strong is my vitality? A mere transmission, how could it have any danger?”
“Good! Since that is so, I will cultivate the Thirty-Three Heavens. One of us cultivates martial arts, the other mental power. Together, we fight for a future.”
Chi Yao naturally did not believe Zhang Ruochen easily. She said, “Go back to Kunlun Realm first.”
“Why?” Zhang Ruochen said.
Chi Yao said, “Your divine source is shattered. The ten heavenly universes are collapsed. You must first recondense the divine source and reshape the heavenly universes before transmission. We must request the Supreme Elder’s help. Besides, for such a major event as transmission, how can we not have a powerhouse protecting us?”
Chi Yao was using a delaying tactic, first stabilising Zhang Ruochen and tricking him back to Kunlun Realm. Once she consulted the Supreme Elder and confirmed transmission would not endanger Zhang Ruochen’s life, she could decide then.
They had agreed on mutual trust, no deception.
But who in the world could truly do that?
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes grew solemn. His gaze turned to the golden vortex floating above the Mirror Terrace. He said, “Actually, there is no need to trouble the Supreme Elder. I can reshape the ten heavenly universes myself. Have you forgotten? I am a mental power god!”
Zhang Ruochen leaped up and landed on the Mirror Terrace.
In an instant, his mind was as calm as a still lake. Thousands of stray thoughts did not disturb his heart.
Powerful mental power released, enveloping the golden vortex and pulling it downward, gathering it between his hands.
In the heavenly river, strands of divine soul mist were directly absorbed into Zhang Ruochen’s body by him. The broken and fragmented ten heavenly universes, under his powerful mental power’s control, slowly reshaped.
No one understood better than him how these ten heavenly universes were constructed. Only he could perfectly reshape them.
Chi Yao had not expected Zhang Ruochen to truly reshape his cultivation. She said, “No! We must go back to Kunlun Realm first. If we transmit here and make too much noise, it will surely alarm the gods in the nearby star domain.”
“It will not! This is the scroll world, a corner of the Sixth Ancestor’s Buddha ancestor world. Who can sense here… hmm?”
Zhang Ruochen’s brows furrowed. He asked, “What star domain are we in now?”
Chi Yao did not know why Zhang Ruochen suddenly asked this. She said, “The Burial Gold White Tiger and I crossed half of the Hell Realm, chased into the Three Ways River, to reach here. The Three Ways River is full of ancient secrets. It not only spans the Hell Realm but also has many spatial paths connecting the entire universe. It is hard to say exactly which star domain we are in now.”
“What happened?” she asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, “The formation you set up outside was attacked. It is divine-level power. Let’s go out and see first!”
…
This saint ruin was located on a barren rocky planet.
At this moment, outside the ruin stood two figures.
One had surging blood qi in his body and a pair of wings on his back. Though humanoid, he had an eagle head.
The other was a divine mastiff with a human face.
Both were at the divine realm, and not ordinary true gods. Rule divine patterns densely covered their bodies.
The one who had just attacked the ruin was the eagle-headed god. He had unleashed a spherical supreme sacred artifact.
“Such a strong formation. It seems the information from Thief Old Tian Mai is real. There was indeed divine power fluctuation in this star domain. It is very likely that Zhang Ruochen really escaped here,” the eagle-headed god said as he recalled the spherical supreme sacred artifact.
The human-faced divine mastiff said, “Thief Old Tian Mai’s information only said there was a divine fluctuation here. It did not say it was definitely Zhang Ruochen. What if inside is a great god who just happened to pass through this star domain? Would we not bring big trouble on ourselves? How many cultivators have been tricked by Thief Old Tian Mai?”
“It should not be that bad, right?”
Regret and wariness appeared in the eagle-headed god’s eyes.
The human-faced divine mastiff complained, “I told you, pretend to be passing by and pay a visit first. Confirm the identity of the god in the formation before acting. But you still rushed in!”
Inside the formation.
The dilapidated stone hall manifested from the Sixth Ancestor’s Zen Exposition Diagram scroll.
Zhang Ruochen, Chi Yao, and the Burial Gold White Tiger walked out of the stone hall and looked at the two demon clan gods outside.
“Why are there two demon clan gods? Could it be that from one of the spatial paths in the Three Ways River, they directly crossed vast star domains, left the Hell Realm, and came to the Southern Universe of the Heavenly Court?” Zhang Ruochen said.
The Southern Universe of the Heavenly Court was the star domain where the major demon clans were entrenched.
