Zhang Ruochen stood approximately a thousand miles diagonally above the Heaven and Earth Divine Furnace. Even at this distance, the temperature from the escaping divine fire was comparable to the “Civilian Flame” of the Pure Extinction Divine Fire.
Any being below the Half-Saint realm standing in his position would be incinerated instantly.
Releasing his spiritual power, Zhang Ruochen sensed the temperature variations within the Heaven and Earth Divine Furnace.
Soon, he categorised the furnace’s temperatures into five levels.
From three hundred to a thousand miles away, the temperature and residual fire were akin to the “Civilian Flame” of the Pure Extinction Divine Fire.
Within three hundred miles, the temperature matched the “Minister Flame” of the Pure Extinction Divine Fire.
At the inner edges of the furnace, the flame’s heat was on par with the “Emperor Flame” of the Pure Extinction Divine Fire that Zhang Ruochen had cultivated.
The fourth level of divine fire felt no weaker than the Pure Extinction Divine Fire wielded by the Flame God.
As for the fifth, deepest level, it was filled with an aura of destruction. Zhang Ruochen’s spiritual power dared not probe there, only vaguely sensing its terror, far surpassing the divine fire used by the Flame God.
In other words, the Heaven and Earth Divine Furnace could incinerate gods.
“The Blood Absolute Clan has dominated the Blood Heaven Tribe for countless millennia, and its foundation is truly extraordinary, surpassing many great worlds of the Heavenly Realm. A single clan could rival an entire realm.”
Zhang Ruochen dismissed further thoughts and took out the Mercury Gourd.
The gourd, yellowish-brown and palm-sized, appeared unremarkable.
Infusing it with saintly energy, the Mercury Gourd expanded, reaching thirty zhang in length, releasing white water vapour that cooled the surrounding high temperatures, imparting a refreshing sensation.
In the distance, Great Saint Qingsheng squinted, observing closely. Suddenly, his spirit jolted. “This must be a gourd borne from a divine-grade plant, with a body as large as a star, a natural spatial spiritual treasure.”
Such a treasure was rare even for gods.
Envy flickered across Great Saint Qingsheng’s face. He thought to himself, “They say the Kunlun Realm is teeming with exotic treasures, and it’s true. Zhang Ruochen casually produces something that makes even a Supreme Realm Great Saint like me jealous.”
“What a pity! Such a treasure is divine material for refining. In the hands of a Heavenly Master of Refining, it could surely become a powerful King’s Sacred Artifact. With one or two eons of nurturing, it might even evolve into a Supreme Sacred Artifact.”
Great Saint Qingsheng didn’t know Zhang Ruochen’s refining skill level, but given his youth and focus on cultivation, his refining expertise was unlikely to reach the Earth Master level.
A Heavenly Master of Refining? That was simply impossible.
The Undead Blood Clan had a Heavenly Master of Refining, with whom Great Saint Qingsheng had a millennia-long friendship. It wouldn’t be too difficult to enlist his help.
Concerned that Zhang Ruochen might ruin this divine material with Supreme Sacred Artifact potential, Great Saint Qingsheng couldn’t help but speak. “Ruochen, refining isn’t a skill mastered overnight, and with such rare materials, you mustn’t act hastily. Your gourd is extraordinary. Only a Heavenly Master of Refining can maximise its value.”
Zhang Ruochen knew Great Saint Qingsheng doubted his refining skills.
It was a well-meaning reminder.
Zhang Ruochen replied, “A Heavenly Master’s refining expertise is indeed unattainable for me. But the Mercury Gourd must be refined by me personally to maximise its value.”
“Hm?”
Great Saint Qingsheng frowned, finding Zhang Ruochen’s words puzzling.
Zhang Ruochen offered no further explanation, carrying the Mercury Gourd and flying closer to the Heaven and Earth Divine Furnace, stopping within three hundred miles.
“The temperature and residual fire here suffice for the initial refining.”
Zhang Ruochen took out the Sundial, inserted two divine stones, and activated it.
The temporal power unleashed by the Sundial enveloped the Mercury Gourd completely.
Over six days, Zhang Ruochen circled the Mercury Gourd more than three hundred times, meticulously studying every inch of its structure. After thorough analysis, he sat cross-legged in the void.
“Swish—”
Three thousand spiritual thought threads flew from his body, transforming into three thousand tiny, light-particle-sized versions of Zhang Ruochen. Some landed on the Mercury Gourd’s surface, others flew inside.
One miniature Zhang Ruochen landed on the gourd’s surface, as if descending onto a vast, boundless planet. The ground was yellowish-brown, covered with plants harder than black iron—some resembling thorns, others like mushrooms, and some akin to flowers.
It was hard to imagine that, in the microscopic world, the Mercury Gourd’s surface was such a bizarre realm.
As Zhang Ruochen began refining, the microscopic world of the gourd’s surface underwent dramatic changes. Thick clouds appeared in the sky, water vapour spread, turning into fine rain.
Lightning flashed intermittently, and the ground trembled.
In this environment, the three thousand Zhang Ruochens worked across the planet-like expanse, condensing time imprints and inscribing spatial patterns.
Time passed day by day…
It took three years.
Zhang Ruochen’s spiritual thought avatars condensed 999,999,990 time imprints across the gourd’s surface, covering its interior and exterior.
“Finally, a great success.”
Zhang Ruochen’s true body opened his eyes, recalling all the spiritual thought avatars from the gourd.
However, they now numbered 4,200, not 3,000.
Over three years, Zhang Ruochen had consumed numerous saintly pills to enhance his spiritual power, resulting in significant progress.
“Swish.”
From the Qiankun Realm, a pile of crystalline stones flew out, orbiting Zhang Ruochen like starlight—3,720 in total.
These were priceless spacetime crystals.
Each spacetime crystal contained a miniature space with a time flow rate three to four times faster than the outside world. Every piece was an extraordinary cultivation treasure.
Zhang Ruochen’s 3,720 spacetime crystals, obtained from the Dragon God Hall, were treasures he had reserved for crafting his first true spacetime artifact.
It took half a year to embed all the spacetime crystals into the Mercury Gourd, integrating them with the 999,999,990 time imprints.
The Mercury Gourd now shimmered brilliantly.
Seeing this, Great Saint Qingsheng’s face darkened. As expected, Zhang Ruochen was squandering treasures. What was this gourd now?
Gaudy and glittering.
One word summed it up: tacky.
“Young people refining artifacts always make the mistake of crafting flashy things. What’s the point? Such a waste of the Mercury Gourd and countless spacetime crystals,” Great Saint Qingsheng sighed inwardly, refraining from criticism.
Had it been Xue Chen or Xue Ningxiao squandering like this, Great Saint Qingsheng would have beaten them until even their mother wouldn’t recognise them.
Zhang Ruochen placed the Mercury Gourd into the Heaven and Earth Divine Furnace, tempering it with divine fire.
Another half year passed, and the time imprints, spatial patterns, and spacetime crystals fully fused with the Mercury Gourd, becoming indistinguishable.
After cooling, Zhang Ruochen, delighted, flew with the Mercury Gourd to a spot a thousand miles from the furnace.
He glanced at Great Saint Qingsheng, surprised. “Why is Great Saint still here?”
Great Saint Qingsheng stared at the gourd in Zhang Ruochen’s hand, his expression pained, as if constipated. After a long pause, he sighed and asked, “Have you succeeded?”
“The first phase is successful, I suppose. Since Great Saint is here, would you help test the gourd’s power?” Zhang Ruochen said.
Great Saint Qingsheng asked, “How do we test it?”
“Just stand still.”
Zhang Ruochen shrank the Mercury Gourd to half a person’s size, aiming its mouth at Great Saint Qingsheng, dozens of zhang away, and channelled vast saintly energy into it.
Instantly, dense spatial patterns emerged across the gourd, radiating white light.
At the gourd’s mouth, Zhang Ruochen had inscribed 36 million spatial patterns, forming a grand spatial array linked to the gourd’s internal and external patterns.
“Rumble.”
The 36 million spatial patterns at the gourd’s mouth materialised, forming a circular spatial array spanning hundreds of miles, which began to operate.
Great Saint Qingsheng stood opposite the array, hands behind his back, like a tiny ant facing an immense, boundless circular light wall.
The spatial array’s power erupted.
Simultaneously, the array rapidly shrank from hundreds of miles in diameter to fist-sized in the blink of an eye.
A terrifying spatial pulling force burst forth, acting on Great Saint Qingsheng.
His body swayed slightly under the force.
As the pulling force dissipated, Zhang Ruochen glanced at the gourd’s mouth, then at Great Saint Qingsheng, his face showing deep disappointment. “It seems my current spatial mastery isn’t enough. The collapsing force of the spatial array is still too weak.”
A failure!
The key to refining the Mercury Gourd was the spatial collapse array at its mouth.
If its power wasn’t strong enough, the gourd was nearly useless.
Hearing Zhang Ruochen’s muttering, Great Saint Qingsheng felt a stampede of ten thousand alpacas in his heart, cursing inwardly, “What are you trying to do? You’ve just reached the Immortal Realm Great Saint level, and you want to suppress a Supreme Realm Great Saint?”
Was his ambition any darker?
The gourd’s power surge had genuinely startled Great Saint Qingsheng.
Even with his Supreme Realm cultivation, he had been swayed slightly by the force.
What was the Supreme Realm?
It was the pinnacle of the saintly path, standing at the saintly realm’s peak, able to glimpse the divine realm.
An Immortal Realm Great Saint compared to the Supreme Realm was like a speck of dust before a majestic divine mountain.
Great Saint Qingsheng suspected Zhang Ruochen’s disappointed expression was feigned, meant to flaunt his achievement. But as an elder and clan leader, he maintained his composure.
Trying to keep his tone calm, he said, “The spatial pulling force the Mercury Gourd just unleashed, within a hundred zhang, should be unstoppable for any being below the Thousand-Question Realm.”
“Oh, really?”
Zhang Ruochen snapped out of his thoughts, realising it was normal that the gourd couldn’t affect a Supreme Realm Great Saint.
He then asked, “Can it not capture Thousand-Question Realm Great Saints?”
Great Saint Qingsheng pondered. “It’s not impossible, depending on their state. A close-range ambush might succeed.”
Zhang Ruochen sighed in relief. “That’s not bad then. Once my spiritual power improves, I can strengthen the spatial array at the gourd’s mouth. Would Great Saint help test the gourd’s temporal power next?”
“How do we test it?” Great Saint Qingsheng asked.
“Just enter the gourd.”
Great Saint Qingsheng transformed into a speck of light and flew into the Mercury Gourd.
Zhang Ruochen levitated the gourd above his palms, infusing it with saintly energy. Instantly, the 999,999,990 time imprints on its surface formed nine temporal rivers, enveloping the gourd.
Zhang Ruochen spun the gourd left ten times, then right…
He intended to spin it ten times rightward, but after three spins, Great Saint Qingsheng forcibly broke through the gourd’s mouth, emerging with a cold glare.
“Boom!”
His Supreme Realm saintly aura erupted uncontrollably.
As a Great Saint, Zhang Ruochen barely withstood the aura, guessing the issue. Slightly uneasy, he coughed twice and asked, “What’s wrong, Great Saint?”
“Are you trying to refine me to death? Zhang Ruochen, I’m your mother’s brother, practically your uncle. Do you trap family like this?” Great Saint Qingsheng said.
Zhang Ruochen tentatively asked, “Was the time flow too fast?”
Great Saint Qingsheng was speechless, finally retracting his aura.
He could only blame his curiosity for staying, or this wouldn’t have happened.
“When the gourd spins left, the internal time flow is nine times faster than outside—a remarkable cultivation treasure, capable of housing billions of cultivators.”
“When it spins right, the time flow becomes extraordinarily fast. You spun it three times, and I lost three hundred years of lifespan.”
Great Saint Qingsheng was near tears. At over ten thousand years old, every year of lifespan was precious.
Losing three hundred years hurt more than losing a piece of flesh.
He gave the Mercury Gourd a complex look. “This treasure, though not a Supreme Sacred Artifact, surpasses them in value, potential, and enhancement to your combat strength.”
“Even a peak Hundred-Shackle Realm Great Saint, once trapped inside, would be refined by temporal power into dry bones before escaping.”
“However, peak Hundred-Shackle Realm Great Saints are highly vigilant and far stronger than Yu Huang and the like. Capturing them is still too difficult.”
Zhang Ruochen stroked his chin, contemplating the gourd. “Is that so? The refining isn’t complete; there’s a second phase. Once successful, I aim to easily suppress peak Hundred-Shackle Realm Great Saints, and if possible, Thousand-Question Realm Great Saints.”
“There’s a second phase?” Great Saint Qingsheng was stunned.
