Chapter 2097: Weird Old Fellow
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In a secluded cave, a flickering golden light bloomed as if some rare treasure had descended.
A silhouette was sitting in lotus position on a large blue stone in the cave, exuding a vigorous life force. Golden Blood Qi was constantly emerging from his body, forming a golden Divine Sea.
It was none other than Xiaoyang King who had escaped alone.
Since the escape, Xiaoyang King had begun self-cultivation in seclusion and consuming a large number of sacred medicine and sacred pills. As a result, his vitality had doubled. A majestic stream of Blood Qi emerged from his body and gathered in the golden divine sea before him.
Not only that, Xiaoyang King had even performed a secret technique beyond imagination. He had derived tens of millions of precepts, which were completely the same as his. The result was more astonis.h.i.+ng than the effect from refining the Wuyuan Royal Flower.
The derived tens of millions of precepts intertwined with each other, forming a golden sun floating in the golden divine sea. Over time, the golden divine sea gradually shrank and eventually turned into a human form.
The human transformed from the golden divine sea looked exactly like Xiaoyang King. Even the vigorous vitality emitted from his body was exactly the same as Xiaoyang King’s.
Swoos.h.!.+
Suddenly, the human in front of Xiaoyang King opened his eyes and shot out a stern gaze. Between his eyebrows, there was a powerful malignant aura.
“Brother, don’t get excited first. This body has just been created. It is not quite stable yet,” Xiaoyang King immediately tried to calm the man down.
Dayang King, who had blown himself up, had been resurrected in this world. If Zhang Ruochen and the others were to know this, they would definitely be shocked.
It was because of Jinyang Twin Kings’ special ability—Shared Life. As long as one of them was still alive, the other could be brought back to life. This was why Xiaoyang King did not hesitate to take Golden Crow Ancient Cauldron with him and escape alone.
However, although Dayang King had been resurrected through Shared Life, his strength was greatly reduced. Both his physical body and Saint Soul had become very fragile. To restore his cultivation level to his prime, he would need a long time of self-cultivation and a large number of treasures of heaven and earth. Dayang King knew his current state very well. Therefore, he quickly calmed down and retracted his aura completely to prevent his fragile physical body from crumbling.
“Never did I expect our carefully designed plan would turn out this way. Both of us have never suffered such a misery before,” Xiaoyang King sighed.
A glint of cold light flashed in Dayang King’s eyes. He exhaled softly and said, “Don’t worry, we will have chance to get even with Zhang Ruochen. Currently, my strength is greatly reduced so I cannot fight him head-on again. Our current main goal is to find the treasure of the Dragon Temple and the key to the World Gate. If we accomplish nothing, we cannot answer to Elder Tianzhu.”
“Zhang Ruochen and the others are unaware of our ability. They should be thinking that you are dead, and this will give us a chance. When the right time comes, we can catch them by surprise.” A light gleamed in Xiaoyang King’s eyes.
Dayang King nodded, “Next time, I will give them a big surprise.”
Dayang King then sat cross-legged on the spot. He exercised cultivation techniques to get accustomed to his current physical body and strengthen it. Otherwise, he could not fight others at all.
Xiaoyang King had already sat down. He was protecting Dayang King and restoring the vital energy that he had consumed earlier.
…
On a ruined battlefield, Zhang Ruochen flung himself into self-cultivation. Eight petals of Wuyuan Royal Flower were refined successively, which led to the increasing number of precepts within his Heavenly Stream.
In a blink of an eye, Zhang Ruochen’s total of precepts had reached 29,999,999. He was already at the critical point of making a breakthrough in his cultivation. All he needed was one more precept to achieve the Path’s Anterior realm.
The Wuyuan Royal Flower was incredible. All the added precepts were of Major Paths and Supreme Saint Paths. As a result, Zhang Ruochen’s Minor Path precepts const.i.tuted only 20 percent of the total. This had almost broken the balance of his Heavenly Stream.
Thanks to the wonders of the Wuyuan Royal Flower, all precepts were unified closely. Or else, Heavenly Stream would have collapsed.
The cultivation process was similar to building a skysc.r.a.per. The foundation must be solid. Hence, Minor Path precepts were indispensable. Experience of previous cultivators showed that the proportion of Minor Path precepts could not be lower than 20 percent even if a cultivator had a great chance encounter.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, having Minor Path precepts const.i.tuted 30 to 40 percent of the total was, in fact, the most reasonable proportion. It was not too hard to cultivate.
Of course, this was something beyond imagination for the majority of cultivators. Very few could actually keep their Minor Path precepts at proportion below 50 percent. Only those highly talented cultivators could accomplish it. The higher the cultivation base got, the more difficult to achieve it. Especially when one reached the Path’s Anterior realm, they would have a tough time increasing the number of precepts. Therefore, n.o.body would be choosy on what kind of precepts they cultivated when arriving at that point.
Although Zhang Ruochen’s current Minor Path precepts were only about 20 percent of the entire sum, the proportion could still go up to 40 to 50 percent as his cultivation base got higher. Even a 60 percent was considered pretty normal.
At a certain point, the flow of Heavenly Stream in Zhang Ruochen’s body suddenly accelerated. It was rus.h.i.+ng endlessly, roaring forward like Celestial River.
For a moment, the surrounding vitality rushed towards Zhang Ruochen wildly, and the precepts of heaven and earth became active too.
Without hesitation, Zhang Ruochen took out a large amount of saint stones and absorbed the saint Qi of heaven and earth from them.
As his cultivation base had broken through to the Path’s Anterior realm, he would require ma.s.sive vital power. Drawing it directly from heaven and earth was undoubtedly inefficient. In contrast, getting it from saint stones would greatly save time.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen had gained huge amounts of saint stones from the battles at Sword Vault Palace, Xianji Mountain, and Sect of the Blood G.o.d. As a result, his current wealth was on par with of many Supreme Saints.
Not too long later, the Heavenly Stream returned to its normal state, with more than 30 million precepts in it.
When Zhang Ruochen was just about to wrap up his cultivation training, he vaguely noticed something.
So, he slightly moved his right-hand finger, releasing a dimensional force. It was condensed into an invisible string, quietly extending to one direction. In a blink of an eye, this dimensional string had stretched beyond hundreds of miles.
At this moment, there was a figure lurking under a rock hundreds of miles away, furtively watching Zhang Ruochen and Blackie. It was a short skinny old man with a height of only one and a half meters. He had dark skin and a wrinkled face. Although his eyes were as small as beans, they looked agile, giving off a cunning impression.
The short skinny old man hid so well that he did not emanate any aura in the slightest, almost blending into his surroundings. One would barely notice his presence, even from a close distance.
“This guy is so powerful that he can condense his precepts into a stream. There is no limitation at all. In addition, most of his precepts are cultivated through insights on Major Paths and Supreme Saint Paths. There are even three Supreme Saint Paths. Just who is this guy?” The short skinny old man mumbled softly with his small eyes rolling around.
What he failed to notice was an invisible dimensional string that suddenly appeared beside him. Before the old man could react, he was tied by the dimensional string looping around him hundreds of times.
“What’s going on? How did he notice me?” The short skinny old man had a surprised look on his face
When he was trying to break free, Zhang Ruochen pulled the dimensional string on the other end.
BOOM!
The rock was lifted and sent flying, and the skinny old man was directly pulled out towards Zhang Ruochen at high speed.
In the blink of an eye, the short skinny old man appeared in front of Zhang Ruochen. He was tied with the invisible dimensional string so tightly that he could not move at all.
Blackie looked at the skinny old man in surprise, “Where did this old fellow come from?”
“When I made a breakthrough and become compatible with the precepts of heaven and earth, I noticed a slight movement about two hundred miles away. So I secretly sent a dimensional string there. Never did I expect I would catch someone.” Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly.
Upon hearing this, the short skinny old man could only blame his own luck. He had been cautious. Nevertheless, he did not expect Zhang Ruochen to be so vigilant that he could even notice the slightest movement. Had he known this, he would have retreated further away.
Blackie reached out its claws and lifted the skinny old man. “Old man, who are you? Why were you hiding there and spying on us? If you can’t give me a clear answer, I will eat you in one mouthful,” It asked in a fierce and menacing look.
Upon hearing Blackie’s words, the skinny old man could not help s.h.i.+vering. He rolled his beanie eyes around as he spoke nervously, “Please don’t eat me. My flesh is too old. It doesn’t taste nice.
“I’m a rogue cultivator hunting for treasures on True Dragon Island. I just happened to pa.s.s by and see you guys fighting with others. I was hiding out of fear. I definitely didn’t mean to spy on you.
“You see, my cultivation base is so weak. Plus, I’m a coward. So, there’s no way I can be a threat to you. Please have mercy and let me go!”
As the skinny old man finished talking, he gave Blackie a pitiful look and was on the verge of tears.
“You pa.s.sed by? What a coincidence? Then why were you hiding even after the fight was over? Are you plotting against us? ” Blackie’s eyes were menacing; its sharp teeth were revealed.
The skinny old man put on a dismal face, “Your fight was too terrifying. I got so frightened that my hands and feet became weak, and I couldn’t even move. So, I didn’t leave. I don’t have any ill intention against you. Just look at my pure and innocent eyes. They are free of impurities, right? ”
Upon seeing the skinny old man’s look, Blackie loosened its grip, threw him on the ground, and said disdainfully, “I’ve never seen a Saint King as timid as you. I take not the slightest interest in you.”
Blackie then looked at Zhang Ruochen, “You can tell that this old man is a coward with just a glance. It’s unlikely that he has the guts to plot against us.”
When the skinny old man heard Blackie, his eyes flashed with joy as he thought that he could get away.
However, Zhang Ruochen did not untie the dimensional string. Instead, he tightened it further.
Just then, when Blackie and the short skinny old man were talking, Zhang Ruochen had been carefully observing the old man. He noticed that the old man’s aura was rather strange. It was imperceptible in a way that it seemed very compatible with the surrounding precepts of heaven and earth.
When the short skinny old man was rattling on, the precepts of heaven and earth in the surroundings had become very active. They seemed to react to his emotion. The situation was undoubtedly very unusual. It gave the impression as if all the precepts of heaven and earth had derived from the skinny old man. Judging by this alone, one could determine that the skinny old man was no ordinary cultivator. By no means could he be a weak rogue cultivator as he had claimed.
“Who are you? Why have you stayed on True Dragon Island this long?” Zhang Ruochen’s face looked grave.
Blackie was bewildered, “The True Dragon Island’s forbidden array was only broken recently. How is it possible that this old guy has stayed on the island for long time?”
“Take a good look at him. There’s a thick aura of True Dragon Island on him. He is perfectly harmonized with the precepts of heaven and earth on this island. It is as if these precepts are revolving around him. This would have been impossible if he hadn’t stayed on True Dragon Island for a long time,” Zhang Ruochen replied in a solemn tone.
Immediately, Blackie felt the old man’s aura carefully, whereupon its expression changed. “You old man, how dare you deceive me? It seems that you won’t speak the truth unless I teach you a lesson.”
Blackie was enraged as he felt his intelligence insulted. With a flap of his wings, he shot a bolt of Eternal Fire at the skinny old man.
“Don’t you bully this honest man— Ahhhhh! Help!” The short skinny old man let out an earth-shattering cry.
Initially, Zhang Ruochen wanted to stop Blackie because he needed to extract some valuable information from the short skinny old man. Nevertheless, he then noticed that the old man remained unscathed despite shouting relentlessly. The fire could not even damage the old man’s linen clothes that were made of unknown material.
Blackie had also spotted the same thing. Although it did not unleash its full strength, it had expected Eternal Fire to at least make the skinny old man suffer a bit. After all, Eternal Fire was not something easy to ward off. With the thought that there was no way it could fail to handle this old guy, Blackie fueled the fire further.
“It’s hot! I’m almost cooked. Please stop now. Helpppp! You should not torture this defenseless old man, ” cried the skinny old man even more relentlessly.
At the same time, the precepts of heaven and earth from the surroundings became even more active.
Blackie’s eyes were filled with suspicion. It had unleashed Eternal Fire almost to its max without holding back. Still, it could not do any harm to the short skinny old man, not even a strand of his hair.
Blackie flapped its wings to condense another bolt of Eternal Fire but shot it at Zhang Ruochen.
BANG!
Zhang Ruochen reacted instantly. He reached out his fist and dispersed the bolt of Eternal Fire with a punch.
“What the h.e.l.l are you doing?” Zhang Ruochen glared at Blackie.
Blackie’s eyes flashed with embarra.s.sment, “I just wanted to see if there’s anything wrong with my Eternal Fire. Judging from the aura of this old man, he should be at most a One or Two-Step Saint King. It just doesn’t make sense that he can stand against Eternal Fire.” The situation was rather unexpected to Blackie. It could not help questioning the power of Eternal Fire.
As Eternal Fire could not do anything to the skinny old man, Blackie had no choice but to retrieve it and started thinking of other means to torture him.
Just then, the skinny old man somehow broke free from the dimensional string. He escaped into the ground and disappeared without a trace.
“What the heck just happened? This old guy a gopher?” Blackie’s eyes widened.
A glint of light flashed in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes. He darted forward. With a wave of his hand, he released a powerful dimensional force. It transformed into a transparent silver chain, penetrating deep into the ground through the rocks.
BOOM!
The hard rocks were shattered. A huge crack emerged on the surface of the ground, extending more than a hundred miles.
The moment the silver chain became taut, the short skinny old man who had gotten away just then was brutally pulled out. The silver chain then intertwined with itself in criss-crossed pattern and eventually formed a dimensional cage holding the old man in.
BANG!
When Zhang Ruochen pulled the silver chain, the dimensional cage flew to him and landed hard on the ground. The impact was so hard that it made the skinny old man feel dizzy and baffled.
Zhang Ruochen’s face became very serious. He sized up the skinny old man attentively.
‘Not only did he break free from my dimensional string, he escaped into the ground and fled a hundred miles away in a flash. Just what kind of ordinary Saint King would be this capable?’