God Emperor

How could Zhang Ruochen not understand the Saint Lady’s intentions?

Zhang Ruochen didn’t expose her. He just took out the remaining Blue Dragon Divine Dew and handed it over. “The dew from these divine medicines might not be as valuable as the Xuanhuang Pill, but it’s very helpful for Spiritual Power cultivators. I hope it can help you improve.”

It was very hard to keep improving after reaching the 54th level. However, Zhang Ruochen’s Blue Dragon Divine Dew could help the Saint Lady go from the beginning to the middle of level 54.

The Saint Lady wasn’t unreasonable. She accepted the dew and smiled. “The Blue Dragon Divine Dew and the Ancient Way of Saintly Tea is a perfect match. It seems like my Spiritual Power will improve vastly.”

Drinking tea, discussing the Way, and having a beauty for company should be a joyful thing. But Zhang Ruochen wasn’t in the mood. In the end, he left early.

Returning to the Heir Mansion, he took Princess White Li out of the Universe World. He explained the current situation and said, “Saint Elder Lisheng was killed. The Ancient Ghost Cultivation Race and Ancient Necromancer Race will definitely send strong figures to check tonight. Kill them all once you discover them.”

Princess White Li crossed her arms over her chest. “Why don’t we go over now and destroy them?” she asked casually.

“Isn’t it better to kill them all when they’re all here?”

Zhang Ruochen had learned from the Saint Lady that only Feng Yinying guarded the place where the Ancient Ghost Cultivation Race and Ancient Necromancer Race were at. If he touched Feng Yinying, the other strong figures would definitely sense danger and escape from the Central Emperor City. Doing that would alert them too early on.

Zhang Ruochen also wanted to use this chance to improve his cultivation more.

Entering a secret room in the Heir Mansion, Zhang Ruochen started cultivating in seclusion.

He’d combined the memories and comprehension of the Saintly Way from six lives. Thus, Zhang Ruochen’s understanding far surpassed his current level. If he took some saintly medicine or pills, his cultivation would rise.

Now, I’m in the middle stage of the upper-level Saint Realm. I’ll cultivate to the pinnacle first, then take the Xuanhuang Pill. That way, I won’t waste the pill.

Zhang Ruochen took the Four-Color Cloud Lotus, a ten-thousand-year-old saintly medicine from the Universe World.

He activated the Jingmie Divine Fire and melted the Four-Color Cloud Lotus into a liquid of four different colors. He purified it until only the essence remained.

After swallowing the liquid, Zhang Ruochen’s body seemed to turn into four-colored divine stone. Four types of light interwove on his skin.

At the same time, his cultivation rose 100 times faster than normal. This was a speed only made possible by refining saintly medicine.

…

In the seventh zone of the Central Empire City was a manor that spanned thousands of acres.

Mingjing Manor.

The cultivators of the Ancient Ghost Cultivation Race and Ancient Necromancer Race gathered here. Even during the day, Mingjing Manor was eerie and dark. Ghosts wandered around and corpses practiced swordsmanship. Even the water in the lake was bloody.

Feng Yinying sat in the main hall. She stared at the Half-Saint kneeling before her. Cruelty appeared on her pale face. “What did you say? Elder Lingu also didn’t return? Starting with Saint Elder Lisheng, this is the fourth group of cultivators that went to the Heir Mansion to check, but none of them have returned. Has this Heir Mansion become a no-man’s land?”

“There must…” the kneeling Half-Saint said, trembling. “There must be…a strong figure protecting the…Heir Mansion in the background.”

“Ling Feiyu is restrained by Spiritual King Saint Ancestor. What other strong figure can soundlessly kill three Saints and two Ghost Kings in a row?”

If Mingjing Manor didn’t need someone guarding it, Feng Yinying would’ve gone to the Heir Mansion personally. She really wanted to know just how dangerous it was.

Just then, she sensed strong Saintly Way ripples entering Mingjing Manor. The entire manor turned colder and eerier.

“Spiritual King Saint Ancestor is back!”

The frost on Feng Yinying’s face scattered. With a joyful expression, her body moved and vanished from her seat.

There was a blood-red river in the center of Mingjing Manor. Right now, a black coffin floated on it.

Strange ghostly words flowed across the coffin’s surface. Cold Qi emanated from each word. A regular Half-Saint would be frozen to death by the Qi even if they stood on the lakeside.

Spiritual King Saint Ancestor lay in the coffin.

Feng Yinying appeared at the lakeside. She was shocked to sense that Spiritual King Saint Ancestor’s condition wasn’t right. “Saint Elder, are you hurt?”

A weak voice came from the coffin. “No wonder Ling Feiyu was once an undefeatable pride of an era. She’s only reached the Saint King Realm, but she’s not any weaker than me. But even though I’m injured, she’s not any better.”

“In that case, please rest well. I will take care of what’s next.”

Feng Yinying left the blood lake. Returning to the main hall, she thought carefully. “The Saint Ancestor is hurt and an unknown figure appeared in the Heir Mansion. Seems like it’s time to invite Corpse Emperor Tianming back.”

With that, she carved a communication rune and sent it out.

In the Heir Mansion, Zhang Ruochen used the Jingmie Divine Fire and only spent three days to absorb all of the saintly medicine. His cultivation reached the later stage of the upper level. He’d improved vastly.

It was kind of a waste of medicine, but Zhang Ruochen was very satisfied with the improvement. It was practically a year’s worth of cultivation.

If I refine another saintly medicine, I should be able to reach the pinnacle.

He took out another saintly medicine. This one was even older than the Four-Color Cloud Lotus. It was close to 20,000 years old.

Zhang Ruochen melted it into liquid and swallowed it.

Only two hours later, burning heat came from his chest. His entire body was burning.

“What’s going on?”

He hurriedly stopped refining the liquid. Opening his collar, he saw that saintly lines were flowing across his chest. They wove into a rune.

“The Saint Figure Rune! Haha, it’s finally filled with Holy Qi and has shown itself.” Zhang Ruochen was very happy.

After Yan Liren, the Taishang Elder, had given the broken Saint Figure Rune to Zhang Ruochen, he’d used up all the saintly power after using it once. Then it melted into his body. After that, it continuously absorbed the Holy Qi within him but never changed. It didn’t appear until now.

In other words, Zhang Ruochen could use its power again.

With the Saint Figure Rune as his trump card, he was more confident in taking care of the Ancient Ghost Cultivation Race and Ancient Necromancer Race.

Just then, ripples appeared in his Spiritual Power. He sensed a familiar aura inside the Heir Mansion. A surprised look appeared in his eyes. “It’s her.”

Zhang Ruochen stopped cultivating and walked out of the secret room. He saw Ling Feiyu standing under a plum tree in a small yard of the Heir Mansion.

The plum blossoms on the tree were extremely vibrant, red like blood. White snowflakes floated in the air. They scattered onto the ground, landing on the branches, piling up on petals. They were white and pure, standing in stark contrast to the plum blossoms.

The red blossoms, white snow, and the red-clothed beauty under the tree formed a beautiful scene.

Ling Feiyu’s back was to Zhang Ruochen. She seemed to be enjoying the flowers but also looked like she was waiting for someone.

“Meeting a comrade on a snowy day. Today is full of joys.”

Seeing Ling Feiyu, Zhang Ruochen was extremely happy. He was a bit excited about reuniting after so long. Stepping through the snow, he hurried over, leaving a trail of footprints.

But before Zhang Ruochen could approach Ling Feiyu…

Whoosh!

A red figure flew out of Ling Feiyu. She held a long sword and stabbed toward Zhang Ruochen. It was only one sword, but there were thousands of sword shadows. It was filled with variations and difficult to figure out.

A translucent sword of Holy Qi formed in Zhang Ruochen’s hand. He used the Nine-Life Sword Technique in reaction and resolved the attack.

The red figure was Ling Feiyu’s split form. Her sword technique was very sharp. By the fifth move, Zhang Ruochen could barely manage it.

“Zi Sword.”

He used the time sword technique and his speed increased more than ten times. With only one attack, he resolved all of the red figure’s moves and started fighting back.

Instead of continuing to attack, the red figure retreated and overlapped with Ling Feiyu.

“Not bad. You’re already very close to the Sword Saint Realm. The last move especially would be difficult for the typical Sword Saint to block.”

Ling Feiyu turned around and finally looked at Zhang Ruochen. Like an icy lotus, she seemed unapproachable.

The saintly sword in Zhang Ruochen’s hand scattered into white smoke. He smiled. “You came at the right time. I have a question for you.”

“Speak,” Ling Feiyu said simply.

“How do I study the last level of Sword Seven, No Regret?” Zhang Ruochen asked. “I’ve spent a lot of time and effort but to no avail.”

“Have you done anything that makes you regretful?”

Zhang Ruochen shook his head. “Why should I regret what I’ve done personally?”

Even with Chi Yao’s relationship, he only felt hate but no regret.

“You don’t even know what regret means, so how can you be of no regret? It’s just like if a person doesn’t know what wrong is, they won’t know what right is either. If you don’t know love, you won’t know hate. Every opposite object exists at the same time.”

How could one know light if there was no darkness?

Zhang Ruochen’s eyes narrowed. “So you’re saying that I haven’t seen enough?”

“No regret means that you have a definite mindset. Even if you complete Sword Eight, you’re still a fake Sword Saint if you can’t reach this level.”