Ji Fanxin used her spiritual power to probe, searching the entire Battle Soul Star, but found no trace of Chang.
“Chang likely sensed that Fairy and Yezi had come to the Battle Soul Star and decisively fled,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Ji Fanxin sighed regretfully, “What a pity. Letting him escape will surely bring endless trouble.”
Fairy Tianchu and Dai Zi consumed healing holy pills, and their injuries gradually stabilised.
The group arrived at the shores of the divine blood lake, continuing to harvest beast-shaped holy medicines.
Each beast-shaped holy medicine was immensely valuable, capable of directly boosting cultivation, enhancing the strength of the holy soul, and increasing spiritual power—treasures coveted by any Saint King.
The four 100,000-year-old beast-shaped holy medicines particularly caught the attention of Mother Qushan, Murong Yefeng, and Ji Fanxin. Working together and using Zhang Ruochen’s Qingtian Pagoda, they subdued them all.
The four 100,000-year-old beast-shaped holy medicines were divided: one each for Mother Qushan, Murong Yefeng, Ji Fanxin, and Zhang Ruochen.
Once the beast-shaped holy medicines were nearly all collected, Zhang Ruochen stood by the divine blood lake, took out the Mercury Gourd, and began gathering divine blood.
The divine blood in the lake contained an extremely chilling power, unsuitable for direct consumption or refinement. However, it could be used to create ink for top-tier talismans or to help an evil spirit condense a physical body.
Its uses were vast, its value extraordinary.
Ji Fanxin, Fairy Tianchu, Zhenmiao Little Taoist, and others also took out special vessels to collect the divine blood.
A lake of divine blood was akin to a divine treasure trove.
As the group continued to gather, the lake’s surface began to sink, revealing blood-red gemstones beneath the divine blood.
“They’re Divine Blood Crystals!”
Zhenmiao Little Taoist’s eyes lit up. He picked up a fist-sized Divine Blood Crystal weighing over 300,000 jin, its density astonishingly high.
These so-called Divine Blood Crystals were crystallisations formed from divine blood combined with vast amounts of heavenly holy qi. They were prized materials for forging, capable of crafting weapons above the Ten-Yao Wanwen Holy Artefact level.
Murong Yefeng collected dozens of Divine Blood Crystals, laughing heartily, “With these Divine Blood Crystals, I can forge a suit of holy armour at the Ten-Yao Wanwen Holy Artefact level.”
Zhang Ruochen also gathered some Divine Blood Crystals, planning to refine them into the Eight Dragons Mountain and Nine Dragons Carriage to elevate their rank.
As the divine blood in the lake dwindled, a purple vine sprouted from the head of the starry sky giant crocodile atop the stone pillar.
The vine took the form of a python, its scales made of purplish-red flowers.
One purple flower, one scale.
The python vine extended downward along the pillar, growing longer and thicker.
By the time Zhang Ruochen and the others noticed, the python vine was less than a kilometre from the ground.
Mother Qushan exclaimed, “Oh no, there’s a big one still here!”
“This beast-shaped holy medicine is strange. Everyone, retreat quickly!”
A grave expression crossed Ji Fanxin’s brow. Even with her spiritual strength, she felt a sense of suppression.
“Roar!”
The python vine let out a long howl, plunging downward at an even faster speed. The purplish-red flowers on its body bloomed with dazzling light, bathing half the Battle Soul Star in purple.
Zhang Ruochen immediately sent the weaker cultivators—Li Miaohan, Black Phoenix, White Vermilion Bird, and others—into the Qiankun Realm. Then, dragging the reluctant Zhenmiao Little Taoist, who still wanted to collect more divine blood, he rushed out of the blood mist.
“Hiss!”
The python vine reached the ground, kicking up a thick layer of dust.
Its speed was too great. If they all fled together, they might not escape. Thus, Murong Yefeng, Ji Fanxin, and Mother Qushan halted, each unleashing their strongest attacks.
The python vine spat a storm of spiritual power from its mouth, shattering all twelve of Ji Fanxin’s spiritual defences.
Zhang Ruochen glanced back and threw out the Qingtian Pagoda, shouting, “Yezi, catch!”
Murong Yefeng caught the Qingtian Pagoda and pressed his palm against it. Instantly, the pagoda grew as large as a mountain, radiating boundless Supreme Power that clashed with the spiritual storm.
Mother Qushan and Ji Fanxin positioned themselves behind Murong Yefeng, each striking the pagoda with a palm.
The Supreme Power surging from the pagoda grew even stronger.
With their combined strength and the Qingtian Pagoda, they could hold their own even against a Great Saint.
The python vine’s force collided with the Supreme Power, shaking the Battle Soul Star incessantly. The water beyond the star’s edge rose in waves dozens of zhang high.
The three knew that even with a Supreme Holy Artefact, they were no match for the python vine. They could only fight while retreating.
Reaching the edge of the blood mist offered a chance to escape.
“Swish—”
From the starry sky giant crocodile’s corpse, a dark purple mist spewed forth, merging into the python vine’s body.
The vine’s holy form grew rapidly, sprouting smaller tendrils as thick as buckets, spreading in all directions. Some tendrils bypassed the Qingtian Pagoda, appearing behind Murong Yefeng and the others.
“What is this creature, and what’s its connection to the starry sky giant crocodile?” Mother Qushan felt an ominous premonition—escaping the Battle Soul Star today might be nearly impossible.
“We’ve reached the outskirts of the blood mist. Hold on a little longer,” Ji Fanxin said.
Murong Yefeng warned, “Bad news—the vines have extended beyond the blood mist, blocking our retreat.”
Ji Fanxin and Mother Qushan turned to see dozens of vines weaving through the sky and ground behind them, each a massive python exuding a formidable aura.
The area they stood in had become a sealed cage.
“Rumble.”
Controlling the Qingtian Pagoda, they shattered countless vines and finally broke out of the blood mist.
Yet, to their despair, more python vines erupted from the ground, surrounding them completely. Escaping the Battle Soul Star seemed nearly impossible.
Behind them, a vast purple light mist rolled in, overwhelming the sky and earth. Within it, two pond-sized, ferocious eyes glowed, their gaze soul-piercing.
“Swish—”
Ripples of spatial energy appeared beside the three. Zhang Ruochen emerged, hurling out a scroll.
“Go!”
The scroll unfurled, forming a spatial teleportation array.
In a flash of light, the four vanished from the Battle Soul Star, reappearing hundreds of thousands of li away.
Standing above a boundless expanse of water, even with the composure of Murong Yefeng, Ji Fanxin, and Mother Qushan, they were still shaken, exhaling long breaths of relief.
They had finally escaped with their lives.
Half a day later, when Zhang Ruochen and the group returned near the Battle Soul Star, they found the planet entirely encased in purple vines, emitting an eerie purple glow.
The star trembled violently, and earth-shaking roars echoed from within.
Even from ten thousand li away, Zhang Ruochen felt his eardrums ache, a testament to the terrifying power of the sound waves.
Ji Fanxin’s gaze grew solemn. “Could it be that the starry sky giant crocodile isn’t fully dead and is trying to break free?”
Everyone’s hearts sank heavily.
Legend had it that the starry sky giant crocodile could swallow a planet whole. If it revived, wouldn’t all of Luo Shui become its domain?
“I must return to Jiuqu Heavenly Star to evacuate the Tianchu Civilisation’s cultivators,” Fairy Tianchu said, her starry eyes filled with worry.
Zhang Ruochen interjected, “Wait—something’s happening.”
“Swish—”
At the polar region of the Battle Soul Star, the surface of the millions-of-metres-tall stone pillar shimmered with golden inscriptions, radiating brilliant light that illuminated the waters for tens of thousands of li around.
The roars gradually faded, and the star ceased trembling.
Yet the purple vines still cloaked the planet, deterring Zhang Ruochen and the others from setting foot on it again.
They observed the waters for three days, and no further changes occurred on the Battle Soul Star.
“It seems that stone pillar is an extraordinary treasure, capable of suppressing the starry sky giant crocodile,” Mother Qushan said, the tension on her face vanishing, replaced by calm.
Zhang Ruochen frowned deeply. “What state is the starry sky giant crocodile in now? Dead or alive?”
Ji Fanxin replied, “Gods are beyond what our cultivation realms can comprehend. It’s said that even when a god dies, their divine soul and divine will linger between heaven and earth, existing eternally in another form. Their divine soul and will might even merge with a primal spirit, entering a foetus to reincarnate and cultivate anew.”
“The starry sky giant crocodile likely isn’t fully dead—otherwise, why lock it up?”
The group returned to Jiuqu Heavenly Star. Some tended to their wounds, while others entered secluded cultivation, digesting the gains from the Battle Soul Star to push their cultivation further.
Zhang Ruochen had acquired a wealth of beast-shaped holy medicines and looted numerous holy pills, holy medicines, and merit treasures from cultivators like Laiwang Ren and Qu Xingzhe.
Eager to refine them, he entered the inner space of the spacetime crystal, where the time ratio was four-to-one. He took out a beast-shaped holy medicine resembling a cyan wolf, aged 70,000 years.
“Sizzle.”
Releasing the Pure Extinguishing Divine Fire from his palms, he refined the cyan wolf into droplets of cyan liquid, swallowing them all.
A layer of cyan light enveloped Zhang Ruochen’s body. A cool energy surged into his holy heart, rapidly boosting his spiritual power. His already formidable holy soul grew even more solid.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t plant the beast-shaped holy medicines in the divine soil garden of the Qiankun Realm, instead refining them all.
These medicines carried domineering, ferocious consciousnesses. If planted in the divine soil garden, they might devour other holy medicines—that was the first reason.
Secondly, Zhang Ruochen suspected these beast-shaped medicines, with their potent holy souls and spiritual power, might be linked to the starry sky giant crocodile.
Failing to erase them could leave hidden dangers.
After refining nearly a hundred beast-shaped holy medicines, the number of holy path rules in Zhang Ruochen’s qi sea increased by nearly a million, reaching over 3.7 million in total. His cultivation surged, equivalent to five or six years of arduous training.
His holy soul’s progress was even greater, its strength nearly doubling.
The most notable improvement was his spiritual power, reaching the peak of the 58th tier, now close to the 59th.
Zhang Ruochen took out his final beast-shaped holy medicine. Shaped like a phoenix, it stood dozens of zhang tall, radiating magnificent, dazzling light.
The phoenix-shaped holy medicine exuded an aura no weaker than a Dao Domain realm cultivator. Fortunately, Ji Fanxin had inscribed restraining seals on it, allowing Zhang Ruochen to release it with confidence.
This was a 100,000-year-old beast-shaped holy medicine!
Zhang Ruochen didn’t refine it. Instead, he stored it away, deciding it would be more suitable for Mu Lingxi as a gift. For his next step, he planned to head to the Central Region.
With his current cultivation, he now had the strength to investigate the palace coup event of the Saint Ming Central Empire from eight hundred years ago.
Whatever the reasons, those responsible back then owed him an explanation.
