God Emperor

The saint spells on the walls could make martial artists fight to the death for them. The pill recipes on the walls could make pill alchemists go crazy. The rune scroll creation techniques could make rune masters stay up day and night…

Zhang Ruochen wasn’t very interested. Looking away, he said, “Where are the saint fruit and medicine that I want?”

“Come with me.”

The Thousand Star Maiden walked forward. A mesmerizing fragrance came from her purple dress. Smelling it gave one a gentle and beautiful feeling.

Following her, they went to an extremely cold hidden room. It had many different jade boxes, wooden caskets, and porcelain bottles. Zhang Ruochen didn’t enter the room, because he discovered that there were hidden techniques. Formation runes covered it densely.

If he broke into it, he’d definitely get attacked by the formation.

Zhang Ruochen had seen Formation Saint Masters before. The runes drawn here were comparable to Formation Saint Masters in both complexity and connectivity.

With his current cultivation, he might not be able to retreat safely if he entered.

Seeing him stop, the Thousand Star Maiden’s red lips curved up. “Are my formation runes enough for you?”

“You’re already a Formation Saint Master?”

The Thousand Star Maiden took specific steps and walked to a stone wall. She took out many jade and wooden boxes, saying proudly, “My goal is to become a god. A mere Formation Saint Master isn’t some impressive accomplishment. Zhang Ruochen, as a manipulator of an ancient way, we should have a bigger vision.”

Formation Saint Masters were even rarer than Supreme Saints. They had extremely high statuses in any world.

Every sect, clan, or city needed a formation’s defense. Formation Saint Masters were also required.

A Formation Saint Master was on the same level as Supreme Saints.

However, the Thousand Star Maiden said that it wasn’t an impressive accomplishment. Zhang Ruochen felt that there was a certain proud and bragging undertone.

The Thousand Star Maiden carried a tall pile of jade and wooden boxes over. She handed it to Zhang Ruochen without the high and mighty aura of a goddess. Instead, she seemed like a gentle girl. “You already have 2,100 rules inside of you. Your Spiritual Power is also in the middle of level 56. This saint medicine and fruit can help you reach the third step Saint King Realm and level 57 of Spiritual Power.”

The Thousand Star Maiden’s Origin Divine Eyes gave Zhang Ruochen a headache. He couldn’t keep any secrets before her eyes.

Sometimes, he wondered if he was naked when standing before her.

He accepted the jade boxes and wooden caskets and began checking them.

He had to admit that the Thousand Star Maiden was very generous. She gave even more saintly fruit and medicine than Zhang Ruochen had imagined. If he didn’t run into a bottleneck, then he would definitely have a breakthrough.

Suddenly, the Thousand Star Maiden asked, “Zhang Ruochen, do you drink?”

Zhang Ruochen was surprised and quickly shook his head. “Not often.”

“How about you drink a bit with me?”

She walked to another hidden room that actually had all sorts of wine and brews. They’d been collected from all over the world. Each one was more than 100 years old and it was difficult to measure their value in saint stones.

Who would’ve known that the gentle and mysterious Thousand Star Maiden was an alcoholic? “This is Non-Precept Breaking. It was brewed by a Bodhisattva from the Western Buddhist Field. I put in a lot of effort to buy a bottle. All this time, I couldn’t find a friend who was qualified to drink this. But as the controller of time and space, you are qualified to taste it.”

The Thousand Star Maiden’s slender hands opened the wine bottle’s seal and a clean fragrance instantly filled the entire space.

Even Zhang Ruochen who cautioned himself against drinking was mesmerized by the fragrance. He couldn’t help but sniff. When he reopened his eyes, the Thousand Star Maiden had already filled his cup with wine.

She used her practically perfect jade-like hands to lift her cup and sipped it with her red lips. “Not bad. As expected of Non-Precept Breaking. It didn’t disappoint me.”

Zhang Ruochen didn’t lift his cup. He felt that the atmosphere was very strange and unbelievable.

“Are we friends or enemies?” he asked.

“Friends, of course. Otherwise, why would I invite you onto my carriage and take out Non-Precept Breaking for you to taste?” The Thousand Star Maiden sat primly across from him. Her dress pooled on the ground like a purple flower and her starry eyes were asphyxiatingly beautiful.

“Then, would you kill your own friends? And steal their Mysteries of Truth?”

“There are many different types of friends. Us two are just wine friends.” The Thousand Star Maiden lifted her cup and made an elegant move while smiling brightly. “Of course, you’re one of the very few men who don’t annoy me. If you treasure this friendship, you can give me the Mysteries of Truth voluntarily. We might even become better friends after that. Drink! Are you afraid that I poisoned it?”

The fragrance of Non-Precept Breaking was like Qing Mo’s food. No being could resist its temptation.

Zhang Ruochen raised his cup and took a sip. Then he drank it all. “Great wine. I know an old guy who loves wine like its his life and is a master at making wine. This Non-Precept Breaking is already comparable with his.”

After drinking a little, the Thousand Star Maiden finally asked the question that was on her mind. “On the riverbank of the Truth Ocean, you and Feng Yan discussed me secretly. At that time, you said, ‘That woman is indeed strong. She knows how to give and take and can make the correct choice. She’s smart, but unfortunately…’ You didn’t continue on. I really want to know what’s unfortunate.”

“So you invited me to drink wine for this?” It dawned on Zhang Ruochen.

Since childhood, the Thousand Star Maiden had always been better than others of her age. She learned everything quickly and was even better than her teachers. She’d received countless praise and compliments.

Everyone thought that she was perfect and flawless. She could definitely become an empress or goddess in the future.

Only Zhang Ruochen used the word “unfortunate” when commenting about her. Naturally, she would remember this and keep wondering what Zhang Ruochen wanted to say.

What Zhang Ruochen said after that annoyed the Thousand Star Maiden.

“Unfortunately, your personality isn’t strong enough. If you run into a true trial, you probably won’t be able to face it head-on. Someone who can become an emperor won’t submit to others. Someone who can become a god can persevere through all challenges. You’re still far from that.”

After speaking, Zhang Ruochen no longer desired the wine. He stood up and left the ancient carriage.

Arriving at the Weapon-Refining Pavilion where the cultivators of the Thousand Star Civilization were gathered, the carriage drove in. Under the lead of the bearded man, Zhang Ruochen was sent to stay at a cultivation residence.

He didn’t see the Thousand Star Maiden this entire time. Clearly, she was staying inside the carriage.

It’s almost daybreak. There are still eight hours before noon. With the help of the Time and Space Crystal, it’s enough time for me to refine all the saint fruit and medicine.

Zhang Ruochen actually had some other fruit and medicine taken from the Saint Kings of the Heaven World Sect. Even if he couldn’t reach the third step, he would be very close.

Asking for fruit and medicine from the Thousand Star Maiden was just to take advantage of her.

Zhang Ruochen entered the Time and Space Crystal. He took out one of each fruit and medicine that could improve his cultivation and Spiritual Power and started refining them.

Countless hours passed. Zhang Ruochen refined all the saint fruit and medicine.

In the Sea of Qi, the Heaven Pass River made out of Rules of Saintly Way broadened and was obviously faster.

There were 40,760 rules in it. The number had almost doubled.

With such a great number, it was sure that he’d reached the third step.

Of course, Zhang Ruochen was still very far from the fourth step. According to many books, he needed at least 100,000 rules to reach the fourth step.

He would only be able to unleash the power of a mid-level saint spell perfectly after reaching the fourth step.

Cultivators below the fourth step could only use a portion of power from the mid-level spell. It was incomparable to the flawless power. It was like the difference between a Saint and a Half-Saint.

This was why third and fourth step Saint Kings had such a difference in combat ability. Even many talented cultivators couldn’t fight across realms.

In the Saint King Realm, each step disqualified many untalented figures. None of those who could reach the end were weak.

This was why fighting across realms grew more difficult as you went further.

“After entering the God-Naming Platform, I’ve already ingested close to 100 saint fruit and medicine,” he muttered to himself. “Even if there are other saint fruits and medicines, it won’t let me break into the fourth step. I can only do it quickly if I find more treasures like the Amazing Saint Fruit or 100,000-year-old medicine. There might be such opportunities in the Wind Atrium.”

Since he’d improved greatly and had a breakthrough, Zhang Ruochen was naturally very happy.

However, his Spiritual Power reached a bottleneck. He was stuck at the peak of level 56 and didn’t improve at all even after swallowing a dozen types of medicine for raising Spiritual Power.

Zhang Ruochen got a feeling of crisis. He was worried that the peak of level 56 would be the limit of his life.

Countless amazing Spiritual Power cultivators had the talent to become Spiritual Power Supreme Saints when they were young but got stuck at a bottleneck and stayed in place for centuries before finally dying of old age.

These top talents who lacked power later were countless.

Zhang Ruochen quickly calmed down and summarized the reasoning. “It must be because I keep using pills and improved too quickly but lack understanding and practice. That’s why this is happening.”

Compared to those old guys who’d lived for centuries, Zhang Ruochen was still too young and hadn’t experienced enough. The reason why he could reach the peak of level 56 before hitting a bottleneck was thanks to the seven lives he’d experienced in the Seven Lives and Seven Deaths Map. They increased his experience and exercised his spirit.

Otherwise, with his cultivation speed, how could his bottleneck wait until now?

He suddenly sensed something and walked out of the Time and Space Crystal. He saw a small guy had appeared in the cultivation residence. He wore a Taoist robe and a circular leaf hat on his head.

It was the Psychic Sage, the Amazing Taoist.

Zhang Ruochen surveyed the room and found that the formation runes hadn’t been destroyed. He was quite shocked. “How did you find this place? And there’s a formation in the room. How did you break in?”