Chapter 2238: Mu Lingxi’s Jade Bracelet
The leader of the Qitian Clan, Lord Bladeh.e.l.l, had sent an invitation.
Zhang Ruochen opened the invitation and took a look.
The invitation was for the leader of the Bloodsky Clan. He invited the leader and the Supreme Saints of the clan to a banquet for the ten great clans of the Immortal Vampires tomorrow night.
Lord Xia Yu refined the holy spring and found that the Precepts in her had increased by a few thousand in an instant.
‘This spring was not ordinary,’ she thought.
She was about to drink again but found that the jade pot was empty.
Lord Xia Yu put the jade pot back on the table and said, “Do you know why the invitation was sent to me?”
Zhang Ruochen lowered his eyes and stared at the fish in the lake. Then he said lightly, “The Qitian Clan is ranked first among the top ten Immortal Vampires. It was reasonable for them to lead the gathering. However, it’s impossible for Lord Bladeh.e.l.l to not know that I’m the leader of the Bloodsky Clan. If he sent the invitation to you on purpose. It’s obvious that he’s trying to sow discord between us.”
“It’s best that you understand this.”
Lord Xia Yu’s body was a tall and beautiful saintly being. She stood up and prepared to leave.
“Wait.”
Zhang Ruochen stopped her and said, “I can’t go to this banquet.”
“Why?” Lord Xia Yu asked in confusion.
Zhang Ruochen sighed and said, “Lord Bladeh.e.l.l’s invitation was sent to you, so you should attend on behalf of the Bloodsky Clan.”
“But I’m not the leader.” Lord Xia Yu snorted.
Zhang Ruochen said, “If I go in this situation, the Qitian Clan and the other eight clans will take this opportunity to attack me. They will say that I went without an invitation. I will be humiliated, but that’s secondary. The most important thing is that the Bloodsky Clan must not lose face.”
Lord Xia Yu suddenly turned around and said, “Are you afraid?”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head, and he said, “I’m afraid that I can’t control myself and will teach them a harsh lesson. In this way, there will be divisions and huge conflicts within the Immortal Vampires. Won’t it be a joke to the other clans in the Infernal Court?”
Whether it was the Celestial-hunting Festival or the environment of the Infernal Court, the ten great clans of the Immortal Vampires competed with each other and allied with each other.
At the Celestial-hunting Festival, the ten great clans of the Immortal Vampires had to unite first to fight against the Ghost, Rakshasa, Stone Clan, and the other nine clans.
This was a battle between the ten clans, and it was related to the honor of the Immortal Vampires.
Next was the internal compet.i.tion among the ten great clans of the Immortal Vampires.
If the Celestial-hunting Festival hadn’t started yet, the ten great clans of the Immortal Vampires would already be fighting among themselves. Not only would they be ridiculed, but they might even be at the bottom of the festival.
Lord Xia Yu stared at Zhang Ruochen and said, “Then tell me, what should I do? Do you want me to represent the Bloodsky Clan to attend the banquet of the ten great clans? Aren’t you afraid…”
She stopped at this point.
Zhang Ruochen understood what she meant. She should have said, “Aren’t you afraid that I will take away your power and you will become a puppet leader?”
He didn’t seem to care, “I went to compete for the leader because of the honor of the Xue Jue Family. However, I’m not familiar with the cultivators of the Bloodsky Clan attending the banquet. If I were to be the leader, I would make a mess. I believe you don’t want to see such a situation, right?”
“At least you know yourself. Do you know that because you are the leader, the Bloodsky Clan has become the target of everyone? Many of your enemies on Kunlun’s Battlefield of Merits have said that they want to humiliate the Bloodsky Clan at the Celestial-hunting Festival,” Lord Xia Yu said bluntly.
Her tone was full of resentment toward Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Therefore, the Bloodsky Clan needs you to stand out and lead everyone. As for me, the lower my sense of existence, the better. This way, the chances of Bloodsky Clan being targeted will be less.”
Lord Xia Yu did not expect Zhang Ruochen to take the initiative to bring this up. She was a little surprised.
Zhang Ruochen handed her the invitation and said, “For the sake of the Bloodsky Clan, please take care of the Celestial-hunting Festival.”
Lord Xia Yu didn’t believe that Zhang Ruochen didn’t care about the ident.i.ty of the leader, nor did she believe that he would be so easy to talk to. However, she couldn’t find any reason to refuse.
Unconsciously, she took the invitation.
Zhang Ruochen said, “There’s another thing. The Qitian Clan, Azuresky Clan, and Yellowsky Clan all have elites who had completed their cultivation of the Hundred-Shackle Realm. If the Bloodsky Clan wants to make a difference at the Celestial-hunting Festival, we must have elites of the same as well.”
Lord Xia Yu snorted and said, “It’s not that easy to reach the completion of the Hundred-Shackle Realm.”
“Didn’t you break the ninety-nine shackles already?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Lord Xia Yu put away the invitation and put her arms behind her back. She said, “You have just reached the Neverwilt Realm. How could you understand the mystery of the Hundred-Shackle Realm?”
“Please enlighten me, Lord Xia Yu.” Zhang Ruochen said modestly.
Lord Xia Yu was even more surprised to see him like this.
‘Was he the Zhang Ruochen who had killed the Saint King Realm cultivators in the Infernal Court?’ she thought.
Logically, with his talent, strength, and background, he must have been extremely arrogant and conceited, just like Yan Wushen.
What is he up to?’ Lord Xia Yu was puzzled.
He was modest, but she couldn’t be arrogant. Or else she would be looked down upon by Zhang Ruochen.
Lord Xia Yu said, “After reaching the Hundred-Shackle Realm if you want to continue to become stronger, you have to not only comprehend the Precepts but also break the shackles in your body.
“The shackles were easier to break in the early stages.
“After breaking ninety shackles, the difficulty will increase several times for each shackle. It can be said that the last ten shackles are more difficult than the previous ninety combined.
“Among them, the most difficult one is called the Shackle of Desire. It is invisible and intangible. It is the most difficult to find and break. Many Supreme Saints in the Hundred-Shackle Realm would save the Shackle of Desire for the last to be broken. I have spent five years, but I haven’t found a trace of the Shackle of Desire.”
She was quite disappointed and said, “It seems to be only one shackle away from the completion of the Hundred-Shackle Realm, but the difference in combat power is like heaven and earth.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “I have cultivated in the Path of Truth. Perhaps I can use the Power of Truth to help you see through the illusion and find the Shackle of Desire.”
“You?”
Lord Xia Yu did not have a good impression of Zhang Ruochen from the Celestial Court. She said, “You are not a Master of Truth. With your little attainments in the Path of Truth, you want to help me? Besides, even if you can help me, breaking the hundredth shackle is not something that can be done in a month or two.”
“I am the Master of Time. It is not difficult for me to help you break through the realm in a few years or decades,” Zhang Ruochen said confidently.
Lord Xia Yu said, “One who is unaccountably solicitous is hiding evil
intentions. Zhang Ruochen, what are you plotting?”
“I just want the Bloodsky Clan to perform better at the Celestial-hunting Festival,” Zhang Ruochen said.
“You’d better not have any other thoughts. No matter how you try to please me, it’s useless.”
Lord Xia Yu’s graceful figure flew out of the Vastsea Manor like a fairy b.u.t.terfly.
Zhang Ruochen raised his voice and asked, “Lord Xia Yu, can you tell me your name?”
There was no response.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head slightly. He had to take things one step at a time with a peerless beauty like Lord Xia Yu.
Returning to the Sundial, Zhang Ruochen continued to cultivate.
At present, his primary goal was to advance his cultivation to the advanced stage of the Neverwilt Realm.
‘It’s time to spend more time and comprehend my own Saintwill,’ he thought.
Cultivating the Saintwill was something he had to do to break through to the advanced stage of the Neverwilt Realm.
‘A Supreme Saint can cultivate not only just one Saintwill. If I cultivate the Time Saintwill and the Dimension Saintwill directly, my level might be very low because I don’t have enough experience.’ Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Time, Dimension, and Swordsmans.h.i.+p were the three Paths that Zhang Ruochen valued the most.
He could not be careless at all.
‘I should cultivate the Fist Saintwill first,’ Zhang Ruochen thought.
Most Supreme Saints could only cultivate one type of Saintwill. There were very few Supreme Saints who could cultivate two types of Saintwill at the same time.
There were even fewer Supreme Saints who could cultivate more than three types of Saintwill.
Even if Zhang Ruochen was very confident in himself, he did not dare to act rashly. The Path of Fist that he chose was one that he had cultivated to completion in the Saint King Realm. It was also the first and most important one.
First of all, Zhang Ruochen separated 4.6 million Precepts of Fist from his sea of Qi and gathered them together, condensing them over and over again.
4.6 million Precepts of Fist twined and turned into 2.3 million thicker Precepts.
Then, they twined again.
In this way, Zhang Ruochen spent three months condensing 4.6 million Precepts of Fist into 460 Precepts. Each of them was as thick as a saint pillar and contained profound and mysterious energy.
At this point, no matter how Zhang Ruochen mobilized his power, he could not make the Precepts of Fist fuse again.
“It seems that I need some external support.”
Zhang Ruochen took out the Violet Gourd, shrunk his body, and flew into the gourd.
With the power of the gourd, the 460 Precepts of Fist in his sea of Qi seemed to have melted. They gathered together and turned into a chaotic light ball above the Heavenly Stream.
The Fist Saintwill was about to be condensed in the light ball.
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion. The chaotic light ball dispersed and turned into 4.6 million Precepts of Fist again, flying back to the Heavenly Stream.
It was all for naught.
“I was so close. What a pity!” said Zhang Ruochen as he felt regretful.
After months of hard work, he was back to his original state in an instant.
“It seems that the cultivation environment of the Violet Gourd is not good enough. I have to buy some stellar cores. In addition, I have to buy some high-level treasures to help me cultivate the Saintwill.”
After flying out of the Violet Gourd, Zhang Ruochen left the Vastsea Manor and headed toward the River Market District.
A blood-red river flowed through the center of the district.
Saint boats were shuttling across the river. The big ones carried palaces and released the terrifying power of a Supreme Saint. The small ones were only dozens of feet long. Only two or three cultivators were sitting on them.
The so-called River Market was located on both sides of the blood-red river.
An Asura elder rolled a piece of animal skin on the ground and placed the blood, bones, and hearts of various Saint Realm creatures on it. He shouted and sold them as goods.
There were also cultivators of the Nether Clan selling all kinds of curse talismans.
There was also a Ghost Lord leading a group of human slaves and walking by the river like they were selling livestock. The human slaves crawled on the ground. There were beautiful women and powerful Saint cultivators.
In Infernal Court, they were being sold all year round. They did all kinds of lowly things and had long lost their dignity as a human.
Zhang Ruochen walked by the river and watched all of this calmly.
As he was surrounded by Saint Qi, only a few cultivators could see his true face. Even if he didn’t hide his face.
He walked and watched all the way.
Some of the stalls also had good-quality treasures. However, it did not catch Zhang Ruochen’s eyes anymore.
A Rakshasa woman in a black veil appeared in front of Zhang Ruochen. She bowed respectfully and said, “May I ask if you are the Supreme Saint Ruochen?”
Zhang Ruochen naturally didn’t think that this woman could see his face.
There must be a Supreme Saint Realm elite nearby who recognized him.
“You are?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“I am Yao Li, Princess Luo Sha’s Saint maidservant.”
Then, she continued, “The princess wants to invite Supreme Saint Ruochen for a chat.”
Luo Sha was one of the few cultivators in Infernal Court that Zhang Ruochen did not hate so much. Perhaps it was because she was too beautiful to make a man hate her.
Or perhaps it was because they had once cultivated both spiritual powers and had a beautiful past.
However, it was not a relations.h.i.+p. Rather, they were more of enemies.
“Sorry, I have something to do. I don’t have time.” Zhang Ruochen turned her down and prepared to leave.
“Supreme Saint Ruochen, please wait. The princess has guessed that the Supreme Saint doesn’t want to see her, so she would like to ask you to see something first.” Saint maidservant Yao Li said.
She took out a jade bracelet and handed it to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes suddenly shrank after he saw the jade bracelet. His aura became extremely cold. He reached out, grabbed her neck, and lifted her from the ground.
“Where did this jade bracelet come from?” Zhang Ruochen asked coldly.
Saint maidservant Yao Li couldn’t speak. Her pretty face was pale and she was terrified. She used her spiritual power to transmit her voice. “The princess gave it to me.”
Bang
Zhang Ruochen threw Yao Li to the ground. He picked up the jade bracelet and held it gently in his hand. His eyes were filled with tenderness. He said, “Take me to Luo Sha.”
Under the guidance of Yao Li, Zhang Ruochen left the River Market District and headed toward the Battle District.
Zhang Ruochen personally refined the jade bracelet and gave it to Mu Lingxi.
Although the jade bracelet was of a very low grade and the storage s.p.a.ce inside was very small, Mu Lingxi always wore it. ‘How could it appear in the Infernal Court? How could it be in Luo Sha’s hands?’ he thought.
Yao Li brought Zhang Ruochen to a square that was emitting black brilliance in the Battle District.
Whoosh
Her figure flashed and disappeared from the spot.
Zhang Ruochen stood on the empty black square and calmly watched the scene. He said, “Great Dimensional s.h.i.+ft Talisman! Who was it that lured me here?”
Whoosh
At the edge of the black square, four black saint light screens rose and sealed the entire square.
A burly Rakshasa Supreme Saint, wearing saint armor and holding a battle-ax, walked out from the blacklight screen behind Zhang Ruochen, he said furiously, “Zhang Ruochen, you brutally killed my brother Great Prince Mara on Kunlun’s Battlefield of Merits. It’s time for us to settle this!”
…