Using the *Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram*, Zhang Ruochen traded with Jie Canghai for three 100,000-year-old ancient saint herbs.
This was only part of the haul. From the bodies of saint-level powerhouses like Tianchen, Da Xi Wang, Jueyan Hu, and others, Zhang Ruochen also acquired eight more 100,000-year-old ancient saint herbs.
For a Great Saint, a 100,000-year-old ancient saint herb was an exceedingly precious elixir.
Only in the reviving Kunlun Realm could so many of them come into existence.
Of course, it was precisely this reason that attracted top-tier experts from the Heavenly Court’s various realms and the Hell Realm’s ten clans, leading to the current chaotic clash of titans.
Zhang Ruochen alone possessed eleven 100,000-year-old ancient saint herbs—an amount that would make even a Great Saint envious.
The ancient saint herb in his hand was called “Hundred-Origin Fern”. It was light and chillingly cold, as if weightless. If he let go, it would float in the air.
The Hundred-Origin Fern glowed a vibrant green, brimming with rich vitality.
Seemingly aware that Zhang Ruochen intended to consume it, a timid voice emerged from within the fern, “Lord Saint King, please spare Little Fern’s life. I promise to repay you generously in the future.”
Not every 100,000-year-old ancient saint herb had cultivated techniques and saint arts like Zhenmiao Little Taoist.
In fact, the 100,000-year-old ancient saint herbs born in Kunlun Realm had been rapidly catalysed to that age by the world’s revival, rather than truly growing for 100,000 years. Few among them had developed sentience.
True 100,000-year-old ancient saint herbs that had grown naturally over that time did exist, but they were exceedingly rare.
For example, the Yujin Demon Incense that Zhang Ruochen encountered in Luo River, capable of launching spiritual attacks, was one such case.
“Don’t worry, I won’t swallow you whole,” Zhang Ruochen said with a smile.
Consuming a 100,000-year-old ancient saint herb directly would be a wasteful act.
The true, sustainable approach was to plant it and harvest its leaves, fruits, petals, roots, or even collect the dew from its leaves as a medicinal catalyst when needed.
Each 100,000-year-old ancient saint herb could serve as the foundation of a sect or an empire.
Zhang Ruochen planted the Hundred-Origin Fern in the divine soil garden of the Qiankun Realm. Then, he plucked a leaf, placed it in his mouth, and began refining and absorbing it.
In the Battle of the Eastern Domain Holy City, Zhang Ruochen not only obtained eleven ancient saint herbs but also acquired a large number of saint herbs aged tens of thousands of years, various grades of saint pills, and merit treasures capable of boosting cultivation realms.
With the Mysteries of Truth, Zhang Ruochen already comprehended saintly precepts at an exceptional speed.
Coupled with the aid of various saint pills and herbs, his cultivation progress naturally accelerated even further.
In the fifth year of his secluded cultivation, the total number of saintly precepts in Zhang Ruochen’s qi sea exceeded two million, reaching the peak of the Seven-Step Saint King realm. He then devoted himself fully to breaking through to the eighth step.
It took a full two years, but Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation successfully advanced.
Whoosh.
In the Tongtian River, over two million saintly precepts flowed like water, their speed surging dramatically.
The saint qi in his qi sea began to compress repeatedly, undergoing a transformation.
Within a single day, the saint qi in Zhang Ruochen’s body seemed to have been tempered a thousand times over. Its quality and grade improved significantly, far surpassing what it had been before.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen absorbed a massive amount of saint qi into his body, consuming millions of saint stones in the process.
Boom.
The saint qi in his body reached an uncontrollable level, spilling out and forming a white saint cloud that hovered above the Eastern Domain Saint King Mansion.
Jiang Yunchong stood in the Fire of Heritage Tower, gazing at the distant saint cloud, and sighed, “Worthy of being the successor of spacetime. Seven days—just seven days—and he broke through a realm. How powerful must Zhang Ruochen be now at the Eight-Step Saint King realm?”
“With Zhang Ruochen’s current cultivation realm, though he’s still far from dominating Kunlun Realm alone, there are few saint-level cultivators left in Kunlun Realm who could threaten his life,” Yinruo said.
Another year of cultivation followed.
Zhang Ruochen fully consolidated his realm, and the number of saintly precepts in his qi sea reached over 2.8 million—more than double what it had been before.
Of course, his current realm was only the early stage of the Eight-Step Saint King.
To reach the Nine-Step Saint King realm, even just the Precept Small Heaven, the number of saintly precepts in his body would need to reach six or seven million before he could attempt the breakthrough.
Over the eight years of cultivation, not only did his realm advance, but his attainments in swordsmanship, the Path of Truth, the Path of Space, and the Path of Time also improved to varying degrees.
In particular, his comprehension of Sword Nine was just one layer away from perfection.
That final layer was called “Soul Returning to the Infinite”.
As for the fourth level of his time sword technique, the Zhou Tian Reincarnation Sword Technique, it had reached a state of perfection. Once unleashed, it could elevate Zhang Ruochen’s combat strength by a significant margin.
His progress in the Path of Space was even more substantial, boosting his confidence. He immediately began preparing to craft spatial scrolls for emergencies.
Spatial scrolls came in many types: Spatial Teleportation Scrolls, Spatial Storm Scrolls, Disordered Space Scrolls, Multi-Layered Space Scrolls, Spatial Collapse Scrolls, and more.
They varied in difficulty. Relatively speaking, Spatial Collapse Scrolls were easier to craft.
Multi-Layered Space Scrolls were the most challenging to produce.
Thus, Zhang Ruochen decided to start with Spatial Collapse Scrolls to hone his skills.
Crafting spatial scrolls involved two steps.
First, crafting the scroll itself.
Second, inscribing the spatial inscriptions.
Crafting the scroll required specific materials, such as Chaos Silkworm Silk, Taiyi Ancestral Stone Powder, and Origin Wood.
Of course, these materials weren’t strictly necessary; substitutes could be used.
For instance, “Origin Wood” could be replaced with the wood of the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree without significantly affecting quality.
The rarest material to find was Chaos Silkworm Silk.
Chaos Silkworm Silk was produced by Chaos Silkworms, which only thrived in chaos. Such chaotic regions typically formed only during the birth or destruction of a great world, providing a habitat for Chaos Silkworms.
Beyond that, Chaos Silkworms could only be found in Haishi Star Fortress.
Zhang Ruochen rummaged through various spatial storage containers, searching carefully, and to his surprise, he actually found some Chaos Silkworm Silk.
The silk was stored in a ring, weighing a full two jin (about one kilogram). It was finer than hair, shimmering and crystalline, appearing both solid and gaseous at once.
Zhang Ruochen recalled that this ring had been seized from a spatial cultivator during the assault on the Xumi Dojo.
With Chaos Silkworm Silk, Taiyi Ancestral Stone Powder, and Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree wood in hand, the other materials weren’t particularly rare, and Zhang Ruochen quickly gathered them all.
He then invited Lu Huaiyu to assist, and together they began crafting spatial scrolls.
Lu Huaiyu had studied the *Records of Heavenly Craftsmanship*, and his skill in artefact crafting, if not the best in Kunlun Realm, was undoubtedly among the top tier.
With Lu Huaiyu’s help, Zhang Ruochen successfully crafted his first spatial scroll in just ten days.
As the process grew more familiar, over the next month, Zhang Ruochen produced dozens of spatial scrolls, exhausting the supply of Chaos Silkworm Silk.
Next came inscribing spatial inscriptions onto the blank scrolls.
With his current mastery of space, inscribing the simplest Spatial Collapse inscriptions proved quite manageable. He succeeded on his first attempt.
In one go, Zhang Ruochen inscribed ten Spatial Collapse Scrolls, succeeding with eight and ruining two—a remarkably high success rate.
“Spatial Teleportation Scrolls are more useful, practically a life-saving trump card. I must craft a few of them.”
A “Spatial Teleportation Scroll” involved engraving a spatial teleportation array onto a scroll, a task several times more difficult than setting up a teleportation array itself.
For Zhang Ruochen, this was no small challenge.
“As long as I have Spatial Teleportation Scrolls, even if I encounter an ordinary Great Saint, I could escape. Then, there’d be nowhere in Kunlun Realm I couldn’t go, and no enemy I couldn’t afford to provoke. I must succeed.”
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath, unfurled a blank scroll, and focused intently. With a calm mind, he began inscribing, striving for perfection without the slightest error.
But halfway through, he failed to maintain precise control.
Bang.
The Spatial Teleportation inscription shattered the scroll, turning it into streaks of light that flashed in the air before dissipating, leaving only fragments on the ground.
Undeterred, Zhang Ruochen immediately took out a second blank scroll and continued.
Bang.
This time, after inscribing just a fifth of the pattern, the scroll burst into flames and turned to ash.
After a brief silence, Zhang Ruochen paused his efforts. He took out the *Secrets of Spacetime* and meticulously studied the section on setting up spatial teleportation arrays.
He then flipped to the chapter on crafting spatial scrolls and continued his research.
Two days later, Zhang Ruochen picked up his inscription pen again and began inscribing Spatial Teleportation inscriptions onto a scroll.
As the inscriptions took shape, his still heart grew slightly tense. He concentrated his spiritual power to the utmost, keeping his hand steady until the final stroke was completed, then let out a long breath.
Looking at the finished Spatial Teleportation Scroll before him, Zhang Ruochen finally smiled.
Only then did he notice his forehead was covered in sweat.
“It’s probably because my spiritual power is just shy of what’s needed—my focus isn’t quite enough. If my spiritual power improves further, the success rate for crafting Spatial Teleportation Scrolls should increase significantly.”
With the experience of his first success, the subsequent inscription process became much smoother.
In one go, Zhang Ruochen used up twenty scrolls, successfully crafting six Spatial Teleportation Scrolls.
He then turned the remaining sixteen blank scrolls into Disordered Space Scrolls, succeeding with seven.
After finishing, Zhang Ruochen felt exhilarated and prepared to test the power of the three types of scrolls.
Not far off, the Tunxiang Rabbit—now as large as a wild ox—bounded over, calling out, “Master Chen, give me some more 100,000-year-old ancient saint herbs! I finished the ones you gave me last month.”
Over the eight years, this gluttonous Tunxiang Rabbit had advanced the fastest, breaking through to the Nine-Step Saint King realm.
It ate everything and could digest anything. It munched on saint stones like candy, crunching them loudly, and had even swallowed several divine bones.
It had also brought a huge stash of saint herbs from Wang Mountain, treating them as if they were its own without the slightest courtesy to Zhang Ruochen.
With such an appetite, it seemed determined to eat Zhang Ruochen into poverty.
Zhang Ruochen sized it up, nodded lightly, and smiled, “I’ve got 100,000-year-old ancient saint herbs, of course. But first, you’ll need to help me with a little favour.”
“Really?”
Tunxiang Rabbit’s eyes gleamed brightly, thrilled that Master Chen was so generous as to offer 100,000-year-old ancient saint herbs so readily. As for the “little favour” Zhang Ruochen mentioned, it completely ignored it.
