No matter how sounds of war filled the outside of the dojo, Zhang Ruochen was still unmoved inside. He was calm.
The wall of the Mirror Fragrance Cliff dazzled with divine light. Every rock was filled with divinity.
An ancient image was carved on it, depicting a branch of the Osmanthus tree. It had leaves and flowers with gentle and realistic lines.
This was the Way of Truth picture that the Tree God had left!
If one studied it, one had a chance of comprehending the Rules of Truth.
Zhang Ruochen studied it carefully for two hours without seeing anything special about it. He just felt that it was a normal stone carving.
Is it because I’m not perceptive enough and can’t comprehend the Rules of Truth?
As soon as this thought appeared, Zhang Ruochen shook his head with a smile, thinking, I’m just too impatient. Many cultivators study in the Truth Godly Palace for one month without any gains. I’ve only looked at the picture for a little bit. How can I comprehend the Rules of Truth?
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Ling Feiyu.
Even this Sword Way genius with shocking perception had a confused look. Evidently, the Way of Truth stumped her too.
Zhang Ruochen thought carefully for a while. Then he took out a piece of Honghua Vine from his spatial ring.
He stabbed it into the ground and ignited it.
With the help of the Honghua Vine, the group could figure out the Rules of Truth with more ease.
However, Zhang Ruochen didn’t do that immediately. Instead, he took out the Time and Space Secret Guide, flipped to a page, and started reading carefully.
Ling Feiyu saw Zhang Ruochen’s strange action and asked, “You gave up because it’s too hard?”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head with a smile. “No hurry. You can’t forget one thing just because you’re doing another.”
Even Ling Feiyu who knew Zhang Ruochen well couldn’t figure out what he wanted to do.
Instead of asking about it further, she continued to observe.
To Ling Feiyu, this was a rare chance. She had to figure out the Rules of Truth so her sword could become stronger. Otherwise, she would have a disadvantage when facing top figures in the future.
The page that Zhang Ruochen was studying had abstruse time prints drawn on it. Every print was complex. A regular cultivator’s head would hurt if they looked at it for too long.
Only someone with strong enough Spiritual Power could study it.
This session lasted three days and nights.
During this time, Zhang Ruochen rested more than ten times. Each time, he had to stop because he used up too much Spiritual Power.
Before, I thought that my Spiritual Power was strong enough. It reached level 54 and many Saint Kings aren’t as strong as me. But after starting to truly study the Way of Space and Time, I realize that my Spiritual Power is far from enough.
After getting re-energized, Zhang Ruochen took out a rune pen and spiritual paper. He started practicing drawing time prints.
More days passed by. Zhang Ruochen used up a lot of spiritual power and finally drew a time print on it. It lasted for two instants too.
Not bad. I’ll try it now.
Zhang Ruochen was quite satisfied with his result. A smile appeared involuntarily on his face.
During this short period, he’d studied a formation to slow down the flow of time.
If time sped up, a year could pass in an instant.
If time slowed, spending two days here might only be one day outside.
After all, they could only stay in the Truth Heavenly Domain for one year. It was a very limited amount of time to study the Way of Truth. But if he could set up a time formation, then they would have much more time.
Zhang Ruochen had some results from his research, so he started putting it to work.
Setting up a formation that slowed down time was much harder than a formation that sped up time, because you were creating a cultivation refuge for yourself, instead of attacking enemies. Thus, you had to first consider the stability of the flow of time.
Next, Zhang Ruochen failed more than ten times, destroying many saint stones and jades. Finally, he created a formation with very stable time.
“I finally completed it,” Zhang Ruochen said, smiling. “Everyone can enter the formation to study the Way of Truth image.”
No one present had figured out a single Rule of Truth. Hearing Zhang Ruochen’s words, they all stood up and walked over.
Su Jing had a thoughtful expression. “What’s the ratio of time compared to the outside world?”
“Around two to one,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Su Jing was a top figure of a large world, after all, so he knew some things about the Way of Time. He sighed inwardly. Zhang Ruochen could double the time ratio with his first time formation. His talent in this aspect would probably make the geniuses of the Time Godly Palace jealous.
“With a time formation here, the cultivators of Guanghan Field can have double the time to study. What a great accomplishment!” Su Jing exclaimed.
Zhang Ruochen wasn’t very satisfied.
After all, he could have four times the time inside the Time and Space Crystal.
His time formation could only double the amount of time. In his opinion, it wasn’t that big of a deal.
It was still because his Spiritual Power wasn’t strong enough.
If he could reach level 55 and become a Spiritual Saint King, he might be able to set up a triple time formation.
“Spiritual Power isn’t accomplished in a moment. Now, let’s use the time formation first to comprehend the Way of Truth image.”
Zhang Ruochen entered the time formation and gradually calmed himself down. After calming down, he started studying the picture of the Osmanthus tree branch.
No one could explain what the Way of Truth was exactly. After all, it didn’t ever change. It was the true nature of the rules of the world.
Mid-level saint spells were powerful because they combined the Rules of Saintly Way into the spells.
By adding the Rules of Truth into a spell, the spell would become much more powerful. This was because the Rules of Truth could help the spell meld with the rules of the world.
The former combined one’s own Rules of Saintly. The latter combined with the rules of the world.
Cultivating the Way of Truth and comprehending the Rules of Truth would help a cultivator meld better with the world. This was known as Way Combination.
The more the spells melded with the rules of the world, the stronger they were.
This image is known to be a summary of the Way of Truth that the Tree God comprehended. It must be very deep and filled with knowledge. Perhaps…I should start with the details instead of observing the entire image.
Zhang Ruochen felt that he’d been too impatient earlier. He’d actually wanted to understand the entire image in one sitting. He was honestly too ignorant.
His current cultivation compared to a god was like a candle compared to the moon.
He locked his gaze on one leaf and then focused on one vein of the leaf.
It was only one vein of one leaf, but Zhang Ruochen put all his Spiritual Power into observing it with an attention to detail. He discovered that it was like a vast river with densely-packed rules flowing within.
I see, I see. Merely one vein contains countless Rules of Truth. It will take me days to comprehend them.
Zhang Ruochen’s excitement lasted for a long time before calming down. Then he used all his might to observe the facts of the Rules of Truth.
After a long time, Su Jing woke Zhang Ruochen up. “The Truth Godly Palace has sent a message that you all can go there to cultivate.”
The environment in the Truth Godly Palace would definitely be better than here. It would be easier to figure out the rules too.
“Okay, let’s go now.”
Zhang Ruochen was impatient because when he’d been studying the image earlier, he already had some results. It seemed that he was only a step away from figuring out his own Rules of Truth.
If he cultivated the Rules of Truth, then his abilities would definitely improve greatly. Then if he activated “equality,” he would be able to kill even people like King Yi easily.
By then, Zhang Ruochen would definitely snatch back the Moon Goddess’s dojo and take back all the dojos that belonged to Guanghan Field.
Su Jing had a troubled expression. “But there’s a problem. The cultivators of Cloud Field have surrounded the dojo. They want to trap us here and make it impossible for us to cultivate in the Truth Godly Palace.”
“They’re too cruel.”
Su Qingling’s chest rose up and down in anger.
Su Jing sighed. “Unfortunately, I can’t do anything. Otherwise, I would help take you all out of here.”
There was no “equality” environment outside the dojo. With their abilities, Zhang Ruochen and the others attacking Cloud Field would be like an egg hitting a rock.
The outside of the dojo had remnants of battle everywhere.
For the past few days, Cloud Field had used all sorts of tactics to destroy the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dojo’s defensive formation. Countless strong cultivators had died too.
However, these losses helped them realize that Zhang Ruochen may have set up both a time and space formation at the same time. Thus, they grew more careful and stopped trying to break in.
“Saint King Nufeng,” an Insect Race cultivator from Cloud Field asked, “are we just going to stay in this stalemate with them?”
Saint King Nufeng was expressionless. “All cultivators below the Saint King level, return to your own dojo and continue studying. We only need people above the Saint King Realm here to trap them.”
Now, they could only use tactics with heavy losses and risks. Saint King Nufeng believed that a pride like Zhang Ruochen would definitely be impatient about cultivating the Rules of Truth. He wouldn’t stay in this stalemate forever.
“Zhang Ruochen, I have the time,” Saint King Nufeng murmured.
Inside the dojo.
Ling Feiyu called out the Heaven-Burier Sword. Eyes cold, she said, “Most of the Cloud Field cultivators have left. Only a dozen Saint Kings remain. I’ll go kill them one by one.”
Zhang Ruochen touched his chin and reached out to stop her. “Don’t take the risk. I have a better idea.”
Six hours later…
Zhang Ruochen set up a basic Space Transfer Formation inside the dojo.
Through this, Zhang Ruochen’s group left the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dojo directly. A moment later, they appeared hundreds of thousands of miles away and hurried toward the Truth Godly Palace.
