God Emperor

Next, I’ll have to spend most of my time on the Way of Sword, Time and Space, Zhang Ruochen thought.

Studying these three ways would be ten or 100 times more difficult than studying other ways.

The Sword Way was a bit better because there were a lot of Rules of Sword Way in the rules emperor weapon from the Wujin Ancestor. Zhang Ruochen could study them directly and turn them into his own Rules of Sword Way.

But the rules emperor weapon didn’t have any from the Way of Time or Space.

The Wujin Ancestor hadn’t studied these two Ancient Ways at all. Thus, Zhang Ruochen couldn’t convert them directly. He had to study slowly by himself.

This would take a lot of time without gaining a lot.

Fortunately, the Rules of Saintly Way were all active in the Truth Godly Palace. Comprehending the Ways of Time and Space would definitely be faster than outside.

After figuring out the way to break through the bottleneck, Zhang Ruochen stood up. He went to the Abyss Ancient Sword’s side and asked, “How is the comprehension?”

“I still haven’t figured out the second image fully yet.” The sword spirit shook its head.

“The first level isn’t suitable for me anymore,” Zhang Ruochen said. “Follow me to the second level!”

The Abyss Ancient Sword was only a sword, after all. Zhang Ruochen couldn’t spend a bunch of time waiting for it and end up affecting his own cultivation.

Plus, the Way of Truth could only help the Abyss Ancient Sword a little bit.

The first level of the Truth Godly Palace had 88,888 cultivation rooms. It was like the entry level to the Way of Truth.

The second level was the refinery level. There were 8,888 cultivation residences.

Since the rooms were so limited, it wasn’t easy to enter and cultivate. You had to fully comprehend all three images of the first level to qualify.

Coming to the second level, Zhang Ruochen saw a dozen Truth Godly Palace disciples. Two of them were godly disciples. They were clearly much more advanced and were responsible for testing, accepting, and making arrangements for incoming cultivators.

One of the godly disciples was Feng Yan’s sister, Feng Xi.

When she saw Zhang Ruochen come to the second level, an undetectable look flashed past her eyes. She exchanged glances with another godly disciple in the distance.

“So fast!”

The other godly disciple chuckled softly.

Zhang Ruochen walked over and bowed slightly. “Greetings, Senior Sister Feng.”

“Zhang Ruochen, do you know that you must comprehend all three images in the first level before coming to the second level?”

“Yes,” Zhang Ruochen said.

“Does that mean you’ve already comprehended them fully?” Feng Xi asked.

“Yes.”

Feng Xi’s pupils constricted involuntarily. “But I remember that you’ve only cultivated for around one month in the Truth Godly Palace in total.”

Hearing her conversation with Zhang Ruochen, the surrounding disciples all perked up their ears.

He’d comprehended all three images in one month?

The disciples of the Truth Godly Palace all started whispering amongst themselves. They clearly didn’t believe it.

Zhang Ruochen looked nonchalant. “One month is enough. If you don’t believe me, you can test me.”

Feng Xi nodded. She led Zhang Ruochen to the northeastern corner of the square. There was an ancient bronze mirror as tall as three men standing atop one another.

“This is the Truth Mirror. You just have to activate all of your Rules of Truth and the patterns will appear on the mirror.”

Zhang Ruochen walked below the mirror and started moving the rules with all his might. Seven hundred twenty-nine strange patterns instantly appeared around his reflection. They wrapped around him like spider webs.

Looking at his reflection in the mirror, Zhang Ruochen murmured, “So these are the rule patterns.”

Behind him, the many Truth Godly Palace disciples let out surprised cries, finding this unbelievable.

Feng Xi’s expression didn’t change that much. She just took out a badge for Zhang Ruochen. “The first level is only for entry cultivation. The second level won’t be so easy.”

Zhang Ruochen accepted the badge and said humbly, “Senior Sister Feng, could you give me some tips? Perhaps I can take fewer wrong paths.”

It might have been due to Feng Yan, but the cold and frosty Feng Xi really did give him some tips.

Under a first disciple’s lead, Zhang Ruochen went to the cultivation residence.

The godly disciple standing beside Feng Xi looked at Zhang Ruochen’s back and said, “So amazing! Do you think he received Mysteries of Truth?”

Feng Xi’s eyes flashed. “It’s best not to guess casually about this. If news spread, the consequences would be serious.”

“You’re right. The Mysteries of Truth are too important,” the godly disciple said meaningfully.

Just then, Feng Xi’s ears twitched as if she heard something. She hurriedly lowered herself to one knee and her expression became respectful.

Half a moment later, she stood up again and looked at the other godly disciple. “Our teacher sent a message. It is forbidden to spread any information about Zhang Ruochen.”

“We shocked our teacher?”

“For the past century, our master has been ruling the Truth Godly Palace,” Feng Xi said. “Since he has sent a divine message, we should hurry and warn the other disciples so they don’t leak any information.”

The godly disciple nodded but also had a strange expression. “Very few things can alert the teacher. Do you think Zhang Ruochen really did get the Mysteries of Truth?”

“I think that we shouldn’t discuss this anymore.”

Seeing Feng Xi’s cold expression, the disciple suddenly thought of something. His expression faltered and he fell to the ground. “I didn’t mean to second-guess the teacher,” he said, repenting. “Please forgive me.”

…

Zhang Ruochen used the badge and entered the cultivation residence. His sight brightened instantly and his view broadened. The ground became a colorful sea of flowers.

He took a deep breath and instantly smelled the fragrance.

“The second level of the Truth Godly Palace is indeed magical. One residence is like one world. Would others have a sea of flowers too?”

Looking at all the fresh flowers, Zhang Ruochen got into a good mood. He sat in the flowers and Feng Xi’s words from earlier rang through his mind. “Observe the flowers for the truth. All are in the flowers.”

He took out the Abyss Ancient Sword and lit a Honghua Vine.

He separated his soul into six again. One studied the Sword Way, one the Time Way, one the Space Way, one the other Saintly Ways, and the remaining two studied the Truth Way.

One month later, the flowers around him changed.

Petals fell down naturally, but instead of landing on the ground, they flew in the air. They spun around Zhang Ruochen like a rain of petals.

His eyes opened suddenly. “Extinguish,” he uttered.

Whoosh!

The flying rain of flowers vanished into strands of smoke.

A smile appeared on Zhang Ruochen’s face. “This is the first level that Senior Sister Feng mentioned. The flowers are not flowers. All are hallucinations. It’s not that hard to understand!”

After one month of studying, Zhang Ruochen now had 2,187 Rules of Truth.

He stood up and executed a Luo Water Fist Technique. After adding in the Rules of Truth, it was four times stronger.

“Not bad. Now, I’ll start studying the second level.”

Zhang Ruochen continued to cultivate.

According to Feng Xi, the rooms in the second floor of the Truth Godly Palace had two levels. Completing each level represented a big step forward in the Way of Truth.

But the second level was much harder than the first.

Most of the top talents who came to the Truth Godly Palace couldn’t even comprehend the first “flower, non-flower” level. Even Feng Yan, who’d cultivated in the Truth Godly Palace for many years, still remained at this level.

The second level was far harder than the first. Zhang Ruochen spent two months before he comprehended it fully.

When he did so, the plants around him all produced buds and bloomed with a speed visible to the naked eye.

Suddenly, the flowers that had disappeared came back and the fragrance hit him.

Zhang Ruochen let out a long laugh. “So, this is the second level. Flowers are life, beautiful and vibrant. Not bad, not bad. Life is the most precious.”

Zhang Ruochen now had 6,561 Rules of Truth.

Next, he practiced the Luo Water Fist Technique and actually released five times the power.

“The Way of Truth finally isn’t my shortcoming anymore.”

Before, when Zhang Ruochen fought with those top geniuses, his biggest shortcoming was mid-level saint spells and the Way of Truth.

For example, when Zhang Ruochen fought with Blue Fang in the same realm, his saint spells had been weaker because of his weaker Way of Truth. In the end, he had to use the Fire God Boxing Set to defeat Blue Fang.

Now, Zhang Ruochen’s every saint spell was five times stronger. If he fought with Blue Fang in the same realm again, Zhang Ruochen could defeat him with one punch.

His cultivation hadn’t improved that much, but his combat ability was now comparable to King Yan and Queen Lian even if he didn’t use the powers of time and space.

If he used the powers of time and space, it would be possible to defeat them too.

One could say that his improvement in the Way of Truth allowed him to become a top figure in the Truth Heavenly Domain.

Right then, the Holy Carnivorous Flower’s voice rang out within him. “Master, I’ve awoken.”

Then an extremely alluring woman walked out of his back.

While slumbering, Demonic Sound’s cultivation had improved vastly. She was now a fifth step Saint King.

Demonic Sound stretched, sketching an image with tempting curves. “Master,” she said with a soft voice. “I’m so hungry. Do you have any Saint Kings for me to eat?”