Chapter 2232: Grand Supreme Array Master
Sword Saint Xuanji’s expression suddenly became serious, and his eyes revealed a contemplative look.
After a moment, Sword Saint Xuanji said, “There is indeed a very important matter, a major matter that can change the current situation of Kunlun.”
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen became even more curious.
Kunlun had already become a battlefield of Merit. Both Celestial Court and Infernal Court wanted to fight for the treasures within. What could change all of this?
But if that was the case, it would be for the best.
At least Kunlun cultivators wouldn’t have to sacrifice themselves.
After a pause, Sword Saint Xuanji continued, “You should already know that 100,000 years ago, nearly half of the deities of Celestial Court and Infernal Court perished or were severely wounded in a tragic battle. It greatly affected the entire Celestial Court.
“Kunlun was completely crippled and severely damaged in that war. It was Saint Monk Xumi who sacrificed himself to temporarily seal those rifts and isolate Kunlun from the outside world. Otherwise, Kunlun would have long become the territory of Infernal Court.”
Zhang Ruochen nodded.
By now, he was aware of these past events.
The catastrophe in the middle ages was more than just tragic. Kunlun was at its most glorious moment. Yet, it was almost destroyed. Its Divine Sky-connecting Tree was cut off, and the deities died. After 100,000 years, it entered the age of no deities.
It fell from the peak into the abyss.
“Everyone thinks that Kunlun deities have all died in that battle. But that’s not the case. At least, there’s still a prominent G.o.d, a magnate, living in the Infernal Court,” Sword Saint Xuanji said seriously.
Zhang Ruochen asked, “A magnate from Kunlun lives in Infernal Court? Why is that?”
“Infernal Court deities suppressed him. However, they can only imprison him in the Fane of Destiny because he is too tough to kill. Therefore, they want to ground him down with the power of Destiny until he’s destroyed,” Sword Saint Xuanji said in a low voice.
Zhang Ruochen stared into Sword Saint Xuanji’s eyes. He already had an answer. “Master, so you staying in Infernal Court is related to that prominent G.o.d? Is he the one who covered up your whereabouts?
Infernal Court could not kill that magnate. In other words, that deity must have reached a level beyond the laws of heaven and earth.
He must be very powerful since he could even execute many things with just the remnant of his Consciousness in heaven and earth.
Sword Saint Xuanji nodded and said, “Yes, they are all related to him. What I want to do is to rescue him from the Fane of Destiny.”
“Rescue the magnate?”
Zhang Ruochen was shocked.
In his opinion, this was an unimaginable mission. The Fane of Destiny had spent a lot of efforts to imprison that magnate. Who could save him?
Even deities could not do it.
“In fact, the rescue plan started 100,000 years ago. It began with Empress of Thousand Bones. Back then, Empress of Thousand Bones sensed the magnate’s remnant Consciousness, so she went deep into the Netherworld and made arrangements in secret
“However, this is not a small matter. It is not something that can be accomplished in a short period of time, nor can it be done by just one person. Over the past 100,000 years, many Kunlun cultivators have infiltrated Infernal Court and joined the rescue plan.”
“Back then, I followed her footsteps, ventured deep into the Netherworld, and crossed the second Corpse River. I was lucky enough to learn of all of this and play a role in the rescue plan,” Xuanji said with a solemn expression.
It was difficult to rescue people from Infernal Court, especially from the Fane of Destiny. One had to have a thorough plan and enough manpower to ensure no single mistake in every step.
Zhang Ruochen could not help but think of the magnificent figure he saw before Death’s Door. Blackie had called out her name.
‘Could it be… that was really Empress of Thousand Bones?”
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen thought of something. With a complicated look in his eyes, he asked, “Is she part of the plan?”
Since the magnate was imprisoned in the Fane of Destiny, Zhang Ruochen naturally thought of Huang Yanchen, who had become Pan Ruo.
In his opinion, the most crucial part of the rescue plan was to infiltrate the Fane of Destiny so they could work from the inside.
Therefore, Huang Yanchen was probably not the only Kunlun cultivator who had entered the Fane of Destiny.
Although Huang Yanchen had just joined the Fane of Destiny, she was already a Scioness candidate. Without the help of the Kunlun cultivators, it was impossible.
Did Chi Yao know about this since the beginning?’
For a moment, Zhang Ruochen thought of many things. His mind was no longer calm.
Sword Saint Xuanji became silent as if he was thinking about something. After a long while, he said, “Sh-She has more important things to do.”
Hearing this answer, Zhang Ruochen instantly knew that Sword Saint Xuanji and Pan Ruo must have met each other in Infernal Court.
“Ruochen, do you know why many Kunlun cultivators like me want to save that magnate?” Sword Saint Xuanji suddenly asked.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head lightly. He could not figure out the meaning behind it.
According to Sword Saint Xuanji, saving that magnate could change turn the tide in Kunlun. It was equivalent to turning the tables.
Who had such great ability?
Even ten Chi Yaos could not do it.
Even deities like WarG.o.d Bloodximius and Moon G.o.ddess could not do it.
It was almost impossible…unless Saint Monk Xumi was resurrected.
Sword Saint Xuanji was a little excited, his eyes were brightened. “Everything is for the future of Kunlun. With the power of that magnate, the situation of Kunlun will be completely changed once he gets out of here.”
Then, he started to narrate,
“100,000 years ago, Milky Way of Styx from Infernal Court flew towards Kunlun and tried to engulf it. However, it was discovered by that magnate.”
“That magnate was Grand Supreme Array Master. He used the stars in the sky as the points for an array and activated it from where Death’s Door was. He set up an incomparably magnificent array that isolated Kunlun with myriad miles of starry skies and blocked Milky Way of Styx.
“Even after 100,000 years, Infernal Court was still unable to break through that array.”
Zhang Ruochen was shocked and said, “He single-handedly blocked the entire Infernal Court?”
Milky Way of Styx was, in a sense, Infernal Court.
That magnate could block it with an array. That was a powerful skill.
“This is something that only a Grand Supreme Array Master can do,” Sword Saint Xuanji said with a sigh.
What was Grand Supreme Master?
It was a t.i.tle, a rank that one could only earn when they reached the highest level in a certain skill set.
For example, Grand Supreme Array Master, Grand Supreme Talisman Master, Grand Supreme Illusion Master… and so on.
Throughout the ages, very few cultivators were conferred the t.i.tle of ‘Grand Supreme Master’ specializing in certain areas. It rarely happened within a Yuanhui period.
For that magnate to be able to become the Grand Supreme Array Master, his attainments in array and formation techniques must be beyond imagination. Everything in the world could be used as a formation, an array. Who wouldn’t be afraid?
It was easy to imagine that if the Grand Supreme Master was rescued, both Celestial Court and Infernal would be afraid and wouldn’t dare to plot against Kunlun.
How strong could the Grand Supreme Master’s spiritual power be?
Level 70? Level 80? Or level 90? Or was he already at the Great Perfection stage, which was level 100?
“Death’s Door is actually the work of the magnate who was imprisoned in the Fane of Destiny.” Zhang Ruochen sighed.
That magnate meant a lot to Kunlun. The things he did would decide the fate of Kunlun.
Sword Saint Xuanji spoke with confidence, “100,000 years ago when that magnate was setting up the array, he killed a large number of Infernal Court elites. The divine blood dyed the starry sky red, making Infernal Court fearful. In the end, they deployed a great number of top deities and paid a great price to suppress that magnate finally.”
“If he can escape and return to Kunlun, Infernal Court will retreat. Otherwise, no matter how many deities and Supreme Saints they sent, many will die.
“Unless, Infernal Court want to trigger another War of G.o.ds, like the one 100,000 years ago.
“Huh, there’s no way Infernal Court can withstand another War of G.o.ds. Even deities fear death.”
Zhang Ruochen felt his breathing stop, and his heart skipped a beat. He looked at Sword Saint Xuanji and asked, “Master, what’s my role?”
Zhang Ruochen believed that Sword Saint Xuanji had risked his life to meet his disciple at this time because of the rescue plan. Zhang Ruochen wanted to help if there was anything he could do.
He was duty-bound to help.
Kunlun was where Zhang Ruochen was born and grew up. It carried too many of his memories. It was his homeland.
No matter what, he did not want to see it gradually collapse. He also did not want to see its heritage plundered by Infernal Court and Celestial Court.
As long as there was hope, he was willing to do everything to stop it.
“I came to find you in the hope that you could help save that magnate. This Celestial-hunting Festival is the key. I hope you can join it,” Sword Saint Xuanji said.
Zhang Ruochen asked, “Why?”
Zhang Ruochen believed that Sword Saint Xuanji must have known the truth about Celestial-Hunting Festival, but he still wanted Zhang Ruochen to join it. There must be a significance behind this.
Sword Saint Xuanji said seriously, “Celestial-Hunting Festival originated from 100,000 years ago. This time, it happens to be the 100th. the Fane of Destiny attaches great importance to it, and the rewards it gives are far greater than before
“As long as you can be the top winner among the ten clans, the Fane of Destiny will grant you 0.3 percent of the Canon of Destiny. It will also grant you a Destiny Token. With it, you can enter some secret places of the Fane of Destiny to practice cultivation.”
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen could not help but be stunned. The Fane of Destiny was really generous that they were willing to give away 0.3 percent Canon of Destiny to the winner. It was the Canon of an Ancient Path. Even if it was just 0.01 percent of it, it was precious, that even a deity would desire it.
Zhang Ruochen himself had 0.58 percent of the Canon of Truth. If someone knew about it, he would be in great trouble.
“Does the Canon of Destiny have anything to do with saving that magnate?”Zhang Ruochen asked.
Sword Saint Xuanji nodded. “The Canon of Destiny and Destiny Token are the keys to save that magnate.”
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes narrowed. How could it be easy to win first place among the ten clans?
There were many powerful figures in Infernal Court. Since this Celestial-hunting Festival was so important, the ten clans of Infernal Court would certainly send out their strongest troops. There were too many powerful enemies to face.
There were many powerful opponents in the Immortal Vampires alone.
“I will do my best in this matter,” said Zhang Ruochen a solemn expression,
He could not promise Sword Saint Xuanji anything at the moment. He could only try his best to fight at Celestial-Hunting Festival. As for the result, he would only know when the time came.
At this point, he had to join Celestial-Hunting Festival no matter what, and he could not relax at all.
It was expected that this would be a tough battle against the elites of the ten clans of Infernal Court.
Sword Saint Xuanji stared at Zhang Ruochen for a long time and said, “Do your best. No matter what the result is, I will always be proud of you.”
Although this was an important matter, Sword Saint Xuanji did not want to put too much pressure on Zhang Ruochen.
After chatting with Sword Saint Xuanji again, Zhang Ruochen left and reappeared on the streets of Ancient City Skylin.
Zhang Ruochen did not stay any longer. He immediately rushed to the Xue Jue Family.
After entering the area covered by spiritual power, Zhang Ruochen put the avatar away.
“Celestial-hunting Festival. It seems that I have to make more preparations. Maybe I should start refining the Mercury Gourd!” Zhang Ruochen thought.
It wasn’t easy to win the top place among the ten clans. The more trump cards one had, the more confident one would be.
Most of the time, treasures had a great impact on one’s strength.
Previously, Zhang Ruochen had only wanted to refine Mercury Gourd into a Times.p.a.ce treasure. But now, he had a better idea.
His main cultivation paths include palm and fist. One was with extreme Yang energy, while the other was with extreme Yin. When Yin and Yang became a combo, they rotated and displayed both hard and soft attributes. The most important thing was, the combo would be a perfect balance.
In order to ensure that there were no mistakes when practicing the combo, the best way was to refine a treasure that could support the process.
Zhang Ruochen thought refining the Golden Sun of Destruction and Mercury Gourd into a single weapon could be the perfect solution.
More importantly, when water and fire elements were combined, they would definitely undergo amazing changes and become a great killing weapon.
Of course, it was not easy to refine the Golden Sun of Destruction and Mercury Gourd together. It required very high attainments in refining skill.
In this regard, Zhang Ruochen had made preparations in advance. A long time ago, he had sought advice from Sword Sanctum on refining weapons. He had also read the transcript of The Record of Heavenly Work. Although he was not proficient in refining weapons, he had a deep understanding of refining artifacts.
With his present cultivation strength, he had some confidence in doing this.
However, refining such a supreme treasure could not be done in a short time. It would require an unusual environment to execute the process.
“There must be a place in Xue Jue Family specially made for artifact refinement,” Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Zhang Ruochen immediately returned to Vastsea Garden to visit Supreme Saint Qingsheng.
Supreme Saint Qingsheng was the acting head of Xue Jue Family. Naturally, Zhang Ruochen had to go through him.
Zhang Ruochen did not beat around the bush. He explained his intentions to Supreme Saint Qingsheng directly.
“You want to refine an artifact?” Supreme Saint Qingsheng asked.
He had never heard that Zhang Ruochen knew how to refine artifacts. Moreover, Zhang Ruochen had specially borrowed Xue Jue Family’s artifact refinement premise. It seemed that he wanted to refine some extraordinary artifact?
Zhang Ruochen nodded. “Yes.”
Suddenly, Supreme Saint Qingsheng’s gaze was fixed in a certain direction beyond the sky. He was listening to someone attentively.
After a long while, he looked at Zhang Ruochen and said, “WarG.o.d knows that you want to refine weapons. He has just ordered me to take you to Furnace of Heaven and Earth. Follow Me!”
With that, Supreme Saint Qingsheng flew out of Vastsea Garden.
Zhang Ruochen did not hesitate and immediately followed.
Zhang Ruochen did not expect that this matter would alarm WarG.o.d Bloodximius. It seemed that in the territory of the Xue Jue Family, there were very few things that could be hidden from him.
As for Zhang Ruochen’s meeting with Sword Saint Xuanji, WarG.o.d Bloodximius should not have noticed it. After all, everything that happened in that s.p.a.ce was sealed off and covered up.
‘WarG.o.d Bloodximius must have guessed that my purpose of refining artifacts at this time is to prepare for Celestial-Hunting Festival. He thought that’s why I pay so much attention to it.’
Following Supreme Saint Qingsheng, Zhang Ruochen entered a special s.p.a.ce after pa.s.sing through layers of barriers set up with divine inscriptions. A wave of heat hit him. Even with his DemiG.o.d-level physique, he felt a little hot.
This s.p.a.ce was boundless. There was a sky and land. It was like an enormous furnace.
The land was the body of the furnace, and the sky was the lid.
There were only pure Precepts of flame between the sky and the land, and they were abnormally active. He could not sense the existence of other Precepts of heaven and earth at all.
The flames in the cauldron were pure gold in color, and they were dazzling.
There were fire dragons, fire phoenixes, Fire Kilrins and other divine beasts of fire flew out from the cauldron to the sky. They were not real divine beasts. They were formed from the condensation of flames. They had already developed their intelligence. The ripples of energy they emitted were not inferior to that of ordinary Supreme Saints.
If any of them fell to the ground, they would be able to ignite a star and burn it into lava for tens of thousands of miles.
The face of the Qingsheng Supreme Saint was dyed golden when he was illuminated by the flames. “This place is called Furnace of Heaven and Earth. It contains countless profound and unimaginable energies. It is filled with divine flames. If you forge an artifact here, you can achieve twice the result with half the effort.”
“In the past, our WarG.o.d refined his Blood Dragon Halberd here. Without our WarG.o.d’s permission, ordinary people can’t enter.”
In fact, even without Supreme Saint Qingsheng’s words, Zhang Ruochen had already sensed the extraordinariness of Furnace of Heaven and Earth. It was no wonder that he could refine Blood Dragon Halberd, such an unrivaled divine weapon.
When he was at Sea of Time, Zhang Ruochen had personally witnessed how powerful was Blood Dragon Halberd. When it was in the hands of WarG.o.d Bloodximius, it could slaughter deities and demons.
Zhang Ruochen cupped his hands and said, “Thank you for leading the way.”
“Don’t forget, we will leave for the Forest of no return in seven days with no delay.”
Supreme Saint Qingsheng did not leave. He stood in the air near Furnace of Heaven and Earth. He was really curious. Why did our WarG.o.d ask him to bring Zhang Ruochen here to refine artifacts?
What did Zhang Ruochen want to refine? Did he need to use Furnace of Heaven and Earth?
Even if he wanted to refine a Regal Artifact, there was no need for that.