As if sensing Zhang Ruochen’s thoughts, Yin Yuanchen sighed, “My grandmother became a god long ago and took part in the ancient divine war 100,000 years ago, yet she couldn’t prevent the Kunlun Realm’s decline. She longs to return to her homeland, but the rulers of the Heavenly Realm forbid it.”
“Unable to return home, coupled with the grudges between the Kunlun and Heavenly Realms, my grandmother has lived with deep conflict and suffering all these years.”
A trace of sorrow flickered in Yin Yuanchen’s eyes, his fist clenching unconsciously, as if he deeply empathised with his grandmother’s plight.
“You seem to know an awful lot about your grandmother’s affairs,” Zhang Ruochen said calmly.
Yin Yuanchen replied, “To be honest, Brother Zhang, my mother was killed by a Hell Realm powerhouse when I was young. My grandmother raised me, showering me with love and giving me the best of everything. She even used the secret techniques of the supreme *Tongtian Record* to refine my body repeatedly.”
Speaking of this, Yin Yuanchen’s voice carried a tinge of sadness, mixed with hatred for the Hell Realm that took his mother.
Without a loving grandmother, his childhood might have been bleak, and his current achievements would have been unlikely.
A glint flashed in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes as he quickly sifted through his knowledge of the *Tongtian Record*.
The Kunlun Realm, with its profound heritage, boasted countless cultivation techniques, including numerous king-level methods and the famed Six Wondrous Books, renowned across myriad realms.
Logically, the daughter of the Ten Tribulations Heavenly Lord should have practised the same technique as her father, or at least something equally extraordinary.
After much thought, Zhang Ruochen found no trace of the *Tongtian Record* in the Kunlun Realm’s current records, as if its legacy had vanished.
In fact, he knew nothing of the technique the Ten Tribulations Heavenly Lord himself had cultivated.
With a thought, Zhang Ruochen sent a strand of spiritual power into the Qiankun Realm, asking the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree, “Senior, do you know of the *Tongtian Record*?”
The Divine Sky-Connecting Tree, absorbing the essence of its ancient trunk, had grown immensely tall, its branches lush and vibrant, exuding an overwhelming life force that formed a river of the Fountain of Life beneath it.
“The *Tongtian Record* is the technique practised by the Ten Tribulations Heavenly Lord, originating from beyond the realm. It’s profoundly mysterious and extremely difficult to cultivate. Even the Heavenly Lord didn’t reach its absolute peak. The Tongtian Divine Hall, one of the Kunlun Realm’s three great divine halls, was founded by him and named after this technique,” the tree responded after a pause.
Zhang Ruochen’s heart stirred. He hadn’t expected that a peerless figure like the Ten Tribulations Heavenly Lord would cultivate a mysterious technique from beyond the realm, rather than one of the Six Wondrous Books.
For it to elevate the Heavenly Lord to such heights, the *Tongtian Record* was clearly extraordinary, likely no less potent than the Six Wondrous Books.
Oddly, the *Taiyi Divine Techniques List*, compiled by the Heavenly Realm, made no mention of the *Tongtian Record*.
If it wasn’t due to the technique’s inferiority, then it must be so obscure that few knew of it.
“Senior, can you sense the power of the *Tongtian Record*?” Zhang Ruochen asked again.
“I can,” the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree replied.
Zhang Ruochen immediately opened a sliver of the Qiankun Realm, allowing the tree to sense the outside world.
“This man indeed carries the unique aura of the *Tongtian Record*’s power, his physique has likely been tempered by it,” the tree confirmed.
Zhang Ruochen thought to himself, “Could Yin Yuanchen’s grandmother truly be the daughter of the Ten Tribulations Heavenly Lord?”
According to the tree, the *Tongtian Record* was a technique exclusive to the Heavenly Lord, unpassed in the Kunlun Realm, making it unlikely for the Heavenly Realm to possess it.
Thus, Yin Yuanchen’s words held some credibility.
In other words, Yin Yuanchen might indeed be a descendant of the Ten Tribulations Heavenly Lord, a status no less prestigious than Young Master Yaotian’s, perhaps even greater.
With many thoughts flashing through his mind, Zhang Ruochen looked directly at Yin Yuanchen, “After all this, what exactly do you want from me?”
“I hope to fight alongside Brother Zhang against the Hell Realm’s powerhouses. I know you’re unrivalled below the Supreme Saint, but the Hell Realm has countless strong foes, no single person can face them alone. Though I’m not exceptional, I wish to contribute what I can,” Yin Yuanchen said earnestly.
Zhang Ruochen studied him for a moment, “As long as someone genuinely seeks to oppose the Hell Realm, I welcome them, regardless of their background.”
“But if anyone harbours ill intentions toward the Kunlun Realm, I won’t be polite. I hope we never cross swords.”
Clearly, Zhang Ruochen remained wary of anyone from the Heavenly Realm.
“I believe we’ll be friends, not enemies. You likely have matters to attend to, so I won’t disturb you further. Farewell,” Yin Yuanchen said, clasping his hands with a smile before turning to leave.
Watching Yin Yuanchen’s retreating figure, Zhang Ruochen pondered briefly, then inscribed a message talisman and sent it to the Saintess of the Sacred Confucian Sect, inquiring about Yin Yuanchen.
If it were anyone else, he might not care, but Yin Yuanchen’s possible connection to the Ten Tribulations Heavenly Lord piqued his interest.
Soon, a reply talisman returned.
Reading its contents, a strange glint appeared in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes.
“This Yin Yuanchen is quite an outlier in the Heavenly Realm,” he murmured.
According to the Saintess, Yin Yuanchen was indeed the grandson of a powerful Heavenly Realm god but had strained relations with other cultivators there, often acting alone. He spent much of his time training in the Battlefield of Merits, slaying numerous Hell Realm foes.
His low profile and lack of acceptance among Heavenly Realm peers kept his reputation subdued.
Yin Yuanchen had been in the Kunlun Realm for some time, mostly in the Battlefield of Merits behind the Eastern Region’s Death God Tomb Forest, causing heavy losses to the Ghost and Corpse Clans. He had saved human cities in the Eastern Region and even disrupted some Heavenly Realm plans.
When the Central Imperial City faced crisis, Yin Yuanchen was among the first to arrive in support, engaging Hell Realm elites twice, winning one battle and drawing another, greatly boosting the Heavenly Court’s morale.
“It seems the Heavenly Realm isn’t entirely filled with ruthless schemers. There are those dedicated to fighting the Hell Realm. If the Heavenly Court had more like him, how could the Hell Realm keep pressing forward?” Zhang Ruochen mused.
Regardless, Yin Yuanchen’s existence in the Heavenly Realm was heartening.
Gathering his thoughts, Zhang Ruochen strode toward the Inscription Guild’s headquarters.
Perhaps due to the Hell Realm’s army at the gates, the place was eerily quiet, with no guards at the entrance, as if anyone could enter.
“Hm?”
As he crossed the threshold, his “Formless and Phaseless Thirty-Six Transformations” failed instantly, revealing his true appearance.
Zhang Ruochen remained unfazed.
Though he preferred to move discreetly in the Imperial City, showing his true self was no great issue.
As expected, the Inscription Guild’s interior was vast, like a small world, with sacred mountains, flowing spiritual springs, and dense holy energy. The rules of heaven and earth were vibrant, making it a cultivation paradise.
At that moment, a white-robed elder appeared from nowhere, his hair and beard white, yet his spirit radiant. Lean and unassuming, he emitted no holy energy, seeming like an ordinary old man.
“The King of the Eastern Region has finally arrived, I’ve been waiting for you,” the elder said.
“Waiting for me?” Zhang Ruochen’s eyes narrowed, instantly recognising the elder’s extraordinary nature, a spiritual power Saint King, infinitely close to the sixtieth tier.
Though Zhang Ruochen’s spiritual power was also near the sixtieth tier, it was only in “quantity.”
In “quality,” he couldn’t compare to this elder.
The elder’s spiritual prowess likely matched that of Grand Tutor Wang Shiqi.
The Inscription Guild’s depths were truly unfathomable, no wonder it could safeguard the Imperial Divine Ruler, one of the ten divine artifacts.
“Indeed, waiting for you,” the elder said, approaching. “I am Bai Qianli, one of the guild’s ten elders.”
With such courtesy, Zhang Ruochen responded politely, “So it’s Elder Bai. It seems the guild anticipated my visit.”
“With your status as the Heir of Time and Space and King of the Eastern Region, your strength as the greatest below the Supreme Saint, and the Imperial Divine Ruler’s influence in the Kunlun Realm, how could you not come?” Bai Qianli smiled.
Zhang Ruochen nodded, admitting his curiosity about the ruler and the guild, and stated his purpose, “This king wishes to meditate before the Imperial Divine Ruler.”
Since the elder addressed him as “King of the Eastern Region,” it meant his status granted him entry.
As a Guanghan Realm cultivator, he might have been turned away.
Referring to himself as “this king,” he formally accepted the title.
“Of course, please follow me, King of the Eastern Region. But be cautious, the guild is filled with arrays, a single misstep could be perilous,” Bai Qianli said kindly, treating him as an insider.
“Arrays that dangerous? Even with my current cultivation?” Zhang Ruochen asked, following behind.
Bai Qianli smiled without answering.
Ahead was a stone gate formed by nine intertwining stone dragons, each tens of thousands of metres long, like nine dragon-shaped mountains twisted into a majestic structure.
Standing beneath the Nine Dragon Stone Gate, Zhang Ruochen felt infinitesimally small.
His so-called unrivalled cultivation below the Supreme Saint seemed insignificant.
A holy gleam flashed in his eyes, revealing countless array patterns within the gate.
He gasped.
Each stone dragon was a ninth-grade array.
Nine dragons, nine ninth-grade arrays.
These nine arrays自主
System: arrays, interconnected into an even more formidable formation. The arrays contained nine array spirits, dragon souls, each radiating a presence capable of devouring entire realms.
Zhang Ruochen gave a wry smile, proceeding cautiously behind Bai Qianli.
Crossing the Nine Dragon Stone Gate, he entered the small world.
Vast beyond sight, many areas were shrouded in mist, veiled by strange forces, impenetrable to the eye.
The ground, sky, and subsurface were etched with countless array patterns, numbering tens of thousands, most dormant and unactivated.
Some patterns were beyond even Zhang Ruochen’s comprehension.
Compared to the jungle small world he had seized from Xuankong Saint King, this world was on an entirely different level, infused with divine power, unmistakably the work of a god.
“Hm? The power of time, could this small world’s time flow be adjustable?” Zhang Ruochen was startled.
He had just sensed a trace of temporal power, perfectly fused with the world.
To combine artifact refining, the Way of Time, and the Way of Space, Zhang Ruochen instantly thought of Saint Monk Xumi.
But that was impossible, the Inscription Guild predated Xumi by eons.
“Could the guild be linked to the Ancestor of Time and Space?” he wondered.
The first Controller of Time and Space existed too far back, with few surviving legends, many truths lost to history.
Navigating layers of mist, Zhang Ruochen followed Bai Qianli deep into the world.
Ahead was a white haze, even his Divine Seal Eye couldn’t penetrate it.
“King of the Eastern Region, we’ve arrived before the Imperial Divine Ruler,” Bai Qianli said.
Zhang Ruochen frowned, puzzled.
There was only mist, no ruler in sight.
With a wave of Bai Qianli’s hand, the mist parted, revealing a vast divine jade bridge, hundreds of li wide, stretching into the shrouded unknown.
“Cross this bridge to reach the Imperial Divine Ruler?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“No, this is the Imperial Divine Ruler,” Bai Qianli shook his head.
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes shifted, staring at the bridge, struggling to connect it to the ruler.
He had heard legends of the ruler but never seen it, unaware of its true form.
“The Imperial Divine Ruler is immense, with a scale monument every hundred li. Only those at the Saint King realm can reach it. The first monument marks the One-Step Saint King realm, and so on,” Bai Qianli explained.
Zhang Ruochen nodded, familiar with the scale monuments.
He recalled his first visit to the Central Imperial City, when the Saintess mentioned the ruler, noting that the Ghost-Nurturing Ancient Clan’s Spirit King Saint Ancestor reached the second monument.
Back then, that seemed unfathomable, now, it was merely a Two-Step Saint King.
Of course, before the Kunlun Realm’s revival, reaching Saint King was a mark of extraordinary talent.
“I wonder which monument I can reach with my current strength?” Zhang Ruochen’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.
Each monument held profound Great Saint Path principles, aiding comprehension, with greater effects further along.
Legend said the ruler had ninety-nine monuments, crossing them all could unlock the secrets of divinity.
Turning to Bai Qianli, Zhang Ruochen said, “Thank you, Elder Bai.”
“A small matter, I wish the King great gains,” Bai Qianli smiled, gesturing invitingly.
Zhang Ruochen gazed ahead, calmly adjusting his state, in no rush.
Moments later, he stepped onto the divine jade bridge, the Imperial Divine Ruler.
The instant he did, a peculiar sensation arose, his holy path rules flowing involuntarily, faintly manifesting outside his body.
A vast, majestic pressure bore down, stirring his mind and slowing his holy energy’s flow.
Simultaneously, he sensed several obscure spiritual forces subtly scanning him.
“The Inscription Guild’s heritage is astounding, so many formidable spiritual power Saint Kings, some no weaker than Bai Qianli, likely among the ten elders.”
“Hm? This spiritual force, could it be a spiritual power Great Saint?”
Zhang Ruochen wasn’t shocked by the presence of a spiritual power Great Saint, the guild recruited the world’s spiritual cultivators, wielding wondrous techniques, with Great Saints in every era.
But for one to remain in the Kunlun Realm, undetected by patrol angels, was remarkable.
It could only mean the guild’s headquarters, this small world, was extraordinary, beyond even a god’s full perception.
Perhaps it was the only place in the Kunlun Realm preserved intact after the medieval catastrophe.
