In the accounts from Chi Yao and the Burial Gold White Tiger, Zhang Ruochen finally understood exactly what had happened.
Chi Yao worried that Zhang Ruochen might break down emotionally due to his cultivation being crippled, so she quickly comforted him. She said, “Your divine source and qi sea have been shattered, but I have heard that there is a secret method in the world. As long as a cultivator with sufficiently powerful mental power intervenes, it is possible to recondense the divine source and qi sea. Come back to Kunlun with me. The Supreme Elder will surely help you.”
Beside them, the Burial Gold White Tiger said, “Did you not say that only you in the world can help him restore his cultivation?”
Chi Yao had not expected the Burial Gold White Tiger to be so talkative. She glared at it, her eyes carrying a threatening intent.
The Burial Gold White Tiger said, “What is that look? You said you could help him restore his cultivation, that is why I agreed to bring you here. You are not thinking of going back on your word, are you?”
“Shut up and get out,” Chi Yao said.
The Burial Gold White Tiger shook its head firmly and said, “No way! You, this woman, are the enemy of Zhang Ruochen’s entire life. He has sworn an oath to kill you. What if you take advantage of his current weakness to harm him?”
Earlier, Zhang Ruochen had already used his mental power to preliminarily probe the condition inside his body.
Because his qi sea and divine source were shattered, more than ninety percent of his divine soul had been lost. Only a small amount of divine soul fused into his blood, divine heart, and flesh remained intact.
That was why he had not lost consciousness.
His martial arts cultivation was not entirely lost either. Because he had cultivated the supreme dharma body, a large number of rule divine patterns had merged with the particles in his body, they were not stored in the divine source or qi sea.
But it was no different from being completely crippled.
Because without the divine source, he could no longer convert divine qi, nor could he control the rule divine patterns.
However, compared to other mental power gods, Zhang Ruochen’s physical body was still relatively strong. In the short term, it was a small advantage.
Years of hard cultivation had led to such a bleak outcome. To say he was not dejected, not in pain, not angry in his heart was impossible.
What pained Zhang Ruochen even more was that the Qiankun Realm, originally contained in his qi sea, seemed to have been shattered as well. The Qiankun Realm housed countless living beings, and Lan You was also cultivating inside it.
In Zhang Ruochen’s mind, the figure of Kong Lanyou appeared, along with other familiar faces. His eyes grew heavy and sorrowful as he said, “Who exactly is Qing Zu?”
Chi Yao said, “Qing Zu is the lord of Tiannan, a taboo figure in the Hell Realm. The reason you have not heard this name is that few people dare to mention it.”
Zhang Ruochen did not know Qing Zu.
But he did know Tiannan. He realised how terrifying this great enemy of his was. He also knew that the master of Tiannan was one of the powerhouses who had besieged the Sumeru Holy Monk back then.
The reason for crippling his cultivation was now self-evident.
Chi Yao said, “You must cultivate the complete Thirty-Three Heavens. Only then will you have a chance for revenge in the future. I can… help you!”
Zhang Ruochen stared at Chi Yao, gradually calming the emotions in his heart. He sat back down on the stone platform and said, “It is useless! Back then, the Holy Monk himself said that he placed his hopes on us, but that was just fighting for a slim chance in the future. It shows he knew the future was very uncertain, that someone would inevitably stop us from growing.”
“Qing Zu crippling me was no accident. Even if he did not act, other powerhouses would have.”
Chi Yao worried that Zhang Ruochen would sink into despair and become disheartened. She said, “Are you just giving up like this? If the Supreme Elder acts, you have a chance to restore your cultivation. If we add the transmission from the virtual scroll, perhaps your cultivation could advance even further.”
Zhang Ruochen was very calm. He shook his head and said, “With the divine source shattered, how could it possibly be fully restored? It is like a porcelain vase being smashed. Even if glued back together, it still has cracks everywhere. Moreover, the divine source is countless times more profound than a porcelain vase. It includes the divine soul, divine form, and rules. Once shattered, how could it return to its original state?”
“Furthermore, with a figure like Qing Zu personally acting, my divine source has already turned to ashes and smoke. Not even a fragment is left, so how could it be recondensed?”
“Thirdly, to summon the soul for a cultivator whose divine form is completely destroyed requires a huge price. To help me recondense my divine source, would not the Supreme Master have to pay a huge price as well? He has been trapped in the Hall of Destiny for a hundred thousand years, already covered in wounds. Now, for the sake of the Kunlun Realm, he has exhausted his heart and mind. It is something impossible. Why should I burden him further?”
Chi Yao’s eyes reddened. She said, “So, our nearly two thousand years of effort and the pain we endured have all come to nothing in the end?”
“Most people’s lives are inherently empty. But having strived and failed is different from not striving, not acting, and failing. The two are not the same!”
Although Zhang Ruochen was in extreme pain in his heart, a faint smile hung on his face. He did not want his emotions to affect those around him.
Zhang Ruochen continued, “Look at me now. Am I not doing fine? Cultivating mental power, what is bad about that? In the future, perhaps I can become a powerhouse like the Supreme Master. Cultivating the virtual and real scrolls of the Thirty-Three Heavens is indeed fighting for the future and hope. But when all that shatters, we still have our own lives. We can think of other ways.”
“Moreover, it is not just us fighting in this world. There are many other cultivators who are also striving. Like Yan Wushen, I am quite optimistic about him. Like Tianlao, she is so powerful.”
“I thought you would be dejected, you would be in pain, you would become disheartened. But now, how has it turned into you comforting me?” Chi Yao’s face was clearly full of worry, yet she laughed out loud.
Zhang Ruochen slowly lay down, looking very relaxed. He closed his eyes, but in reality, he was probing his injuries, searching for the impossible possibility. He said, “I just feel that suddenly everything has become particularly light. The responsibilities and burdens on my shoulders have all disappeared! Most importantly, I do not have to part from you in life and death anymore. That is pretty good! I have thought it through clearly. As long as I cultivate my mental power to the hundredth rank, I will surely be invincible in the world, even stronger than cultivating to the Thirty-Three Heavens Universe.”
This was the truth!
Because cultivating mental power to the ninetieth rank already made one a cosmic ruler, one of the few existences.
In history, those who cultivated mental power to the ninety-fifth rank or above were without exception legends, myths, as rare as powerhouses like the Immovable Ming Wang Great Venerable.
If someone truly cultivated mental power to the hundredth rank, perhaps they could control the universe and become the Lord of the Universe.
But that was an impossible realm.
Chi Yao knew that Zhang Ruochen was saying this just to deliberately comfort her, not wanting her to continue worrying.
The Burial Gold White Tiger said, “Then what about me?”
“Let Yao Yao be your guide!” Zhang Ruochen said.
The Burial Gold White Tiger said anxiously, “How can a guide be changed just like that? Moreover, she is not suitable. Why not try starting from the most basic martial arts and recultivate?”
“I already tried earlier. It is impossible to reopen a qi sea. The foundation is destroyed, the path of martial arts is severed,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen so relaxed and at ease, the Burial Gold White Tiger became worried instead. It felt its own future was bleak, its prospects uncertain.
Could it really only go and find a new guide?
How easy was that to find!
Chi Yao picked up a scroll from the stone platform and slowly unrolled it. Looking at the lines and brushstrokes on it, she said, “This is the scroll left by the Holy Monk!”
“The Sixth Ancestor’s Zen Exposition Diagram,” Zhang Ruochen said.
“It is a bit strange.”
“What is strange about it?”
“Since it depicts the Sixth Ancestor expounding Zen under the Bodhi tree, why is the Kunlun Realm’s Heaven-Connecting Divine Wood also painted on it?” Chi Yao lightly furrowed her delicate brows, finding it hard to understand.
“Where is the Heaven-Connecting Divine Wood on the diagram? The Heaven-Connecting Divine Wood… what did you say?”
Zhang Ruochen, who had been lying on the stone platform, suddenly sat up. He snatched the Sixth Ancestor’s Zen Exposition Diagram from Chi Yao’s hands.
He discovered that the Sixth Ancestor’s Zen Exposition Diagram had indeed undergone a great change. It not only had the Sixth Ancestor expounding Zen, but also the Heaven-Connecting Divine Wood and the earth plates of the Qiankun Realm transformed into diagram seals, presented on the scroll.
Zhang Ruochen laughed and said, “I knew it, I knew it. Since the Qiankun Divine Wood Diagram has an inner space, how could the Sixth Ancestor’s Zen Exposition Diagram not have one?”
Zhang Ruochen was in high spirits. He excitedly stood up from the stone platform, but his legs were still weak, and he remained very frail.
When he had first obtained the Sixth Ancestor’s Zen Exposition Diagram, he had tried various methods but could not open or resolve the inner space. He thought the inner space simply did not exist.
But now, the Qiankun Realm, which should have been destroyed, appeared on the Sixth Ancestor’s Zen Exposition Diagram. This showed that the painting must have an inner space, and that space could bear an entire world.
Thinking of this, Zhang Ruochen immediately cut his wrist and dripped blood onto the scroll.
The blood was absorbed by the scroll.
Waves of Buddhist chants rang out. Golden light blazed brilliantly, and the figure of the Sixth Ancestor manifested, standing in the dilapidated stone hall, emanating powerful majesty and Buddhist essence.
Enlightenment dawned in Chi Yao’s eyes. She realised that the Sixth Ancestor she had seen in the Abyss of Darkness was manifested from this scroll.
Whoosh.
Space trembled, the world spun.
Moments later, Zhang Ruochen, Chi Yao, the Burial Gold White Tiger, and the entire abandoned stone hall all entered the inner space of the Sixth Ancestor’s Zen Exposition Diagram. Outside the window, Buddhist clouds were like a golden sea. Wind blew in, carrying a slight coolness and the fresh scent of grass and trees.
They walked out of the stone hall. Outside was an endless grassland, half golden and half verdant green.
One half was the world from the Sixth Ancestor’s Zen Exposition Diagram, the other half was the Qiankun Realm.
They were at the boundary between the two realms.
Looking towards the Qiankun Realm side, the Heaven-Connecting Divine Wood towered into the clouds, reaching unknown tens of thousands of metres high, brimming with vitality. Its leaves were like emerald clouds.
Looking towards the golden world on the other side, a Bodhi tree as tall as the Heaven-Connecting Divine Wood grew at the end of the sky. It showered golden rain, with Buddhist light illuminating the heavens and earth. It too brimmed with vitality, and its divine might surged.
If what was painted on the scroll was truly manifested in this inner space.
It could not help but make one wonder, under the Bodhi tree at the end of the sky, was there really a Sixth Ancestor sitting and expounding Zen?
But Zhang Ruochen did not go to verify this conjecture. Instead, he mobilised his mental power, rode the wind, and flew towards the Heaven-Connecting Divine Wood. He was more concerned about the safety of Kong Lanyou and the living beings in the Qiankun Realm.
As for why he could open the inner space of the Sixth Ancestor’s Zen Exposition Diagram, Zhang Ruochen had some guesses. It was probably because only after he stepped into the divine realm and used divine blood could the inner space be opened.
At that time, when Qing Zu shattered his skull, the divine blood just happened to stain the scroll, allowing the Qiankun Realm to be preserved.
However, since the Sumeru Holy Monk had left the Sixth Ancestor’s Zen Exposition Diagram, why did it require Zhang Ruochen’s divine blood to open it?
