Elder Patriarch Death Zen was standing quietly outside a fog-shrouded ancient forest.
It was a small forest with only a radius of one hundred miles. Since it was on dead ground, it was not conspicuous.
Standing outside the forest, one could clearly sense the air of ancient vicissitudes, which seemed to have existed for a long time.
The most special thing about it was its scale—it was small but exuded a sense of unfathomable depth that was as deep as an abyss.
It was unusual for such an ancient and mysterious forest to exist inside the Dragon Temple in a lifeless world like True Dragon Island.
Elder Patriarch Death Zen spun around suddenly as his eyes caught a shadow moving at high speed towards him from afar.
“What is going on here, Dead Zen?” Corpse Emperor Tianming came close, scanning the ancient forest as he posed a question at Elder Patriarch Death Zen.
“I stumbled upon a Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herb and fought it for three hours before cutting down a petal. The Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herb escaped into this forest. I gave chase but an array and a dimensional barrier stopped me,” said Elder Patriarch Death Zen after chanting something in his mouth.
There was a light in Corpse Emperor Tianming’s eyes upon hearing that. “Do you know what kind of Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herb it is?”
There are many types of Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herbs, and they all have different uses. Some are to increase spiritual power, some to increase the cultivation of martial arts, and some are to strengthen the physical body.
Corpse Emperor Tianming was living his second life now. It was difficult to restore the level of strength of his previous life. So he was keen to get his hands on a Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herb.
“If I am not mistaken, it is the Wuyuan Royal Flower, which is bred from the essence of the five elements. There are five flowers and each flower has five petals, representing the Five-Qi Convergence phenomenon.,” said Elder Patriarch Death Zen.
Corpse Emperor Tianming’s eyes lit up. “I can’t believe that it is the Wuyuan Royal Flower. When I attained the pinnacle of the Saint King in my previous life, I had searched the entire Kunlun Realm for it, but to no avail. I can’t believe that it has appeared here.”
He once saw a record about the Wuyan Royal Flower in an ancient book. Refinement of this flower could increase the number of Precepts tremendously. And the increase is on the Major Path and even the Path of Supreme Saint. This would save years of hard work.
Not only that, if one’s cultivation base has reached the Precept Domain, refining the Wuyuan Royal Flower can also help immortalize the body, and step by step forging the body into an immortal saint body.
The refinement of the Wuyuan Royal Flower at the Neverwither Supreme Saint level can strengthen the immortal saint body and the immortal saint power, which will have a far-reaching impact on future self-cultivation.
“I have just refined a petal I cut down from the flower. The number of Precepts in my body has increased by a million. This thing is magical,” said Elder Patriarch Death Zen.
It is extremely difficult to continue to increase the number of Precepts once the cultivation base reaches the level like that of Elder Patriarch Death Zen.
It is unimaginable to increase the number of Precepts by a million at one time, and all of them are of the Major Path and of the Path of Supreme Saint.
A fire of excitement lit up in Corpse Emperor Tianming’s eyes. He could not find the flower in the previous life, but he finally saw hope of fulfilling his dream in this life.
“Dead Zen, there is no better time than this. If you and I join hands, we will defeat the array and dimensional barrier. With the strength of both of us, suppressing the Wuyuan Royal Flower should be easy,” said Corpse Emperor Tianming.
There were too many people who had entered the Dragon Temple ruins. Once others discovered the secrets of this place, it would be more difficult to get the Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herb.
Besides, since the Wuyuan Royal Flower originated from this ancient forest, there could be other Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herbs here, too. Excavation of such an enormous pile of treasures could not be more urgent now.
Back in ancient times, there was a Blackwood Dragon in the Divine Dragon Race who was good at cultivating sacred herbs. That had made sacred herbs, including the rare Hundred-Thousand-Year sacred herbs, exist in abundant quantities on True Dragon Island.
Had those ancient sacred herbs escaped the catastrophe 100,000 years ago, they might have produced many more Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herbs by now.
Of course, the Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herbs had to survive the Yuanhui Tribulation. But the probability of surviving through it was so low that 100 fully grown sacred herbs could not transform into even one Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herb.
“The array and dimensional barrier here are extremely strange. It is difficult to defeat them.” Elder Patriarch Death Zen shook his head.
“Really? Let me try.” There was a strange expression on Corpse Emperor Tianming’s face.
While speaking, Corpse Emperor Tianming cast out a Talisman of Destiny and drove it with his powerful saint Qi.
The Talisman of Destiny released a Power of the Supreme Saint into Corpse Emperor Tianming.
He bellowed as he performed a palm strike.
A giant palm formed. With tons of energy on the palm, it struck forward at once with an unstoppable force.
Outside the ancient forest, array inscriptions emerged and emanated an air of ancient vicissitudes. The dimensional barrier swayed violently, like undulating waves.
Pow!
Corpse Emperor Tianming’s palm print hit and dent the massive net of array inscriptions and the dimensional barrier.
Blast!
The array inscriptions glowed and shot out rounds of fire at Corpse Emperor Tianming.
There were changes in the dimensional barrier, too. Razor-sharp power of dimensions bounced back, tearing open a series of massive dimensional rifts.
Corpse Emperor Tianming was calm. He cast out the Talisman of Destiny again and confined the incoming fire and the dimensional rifts on the spot.
These were extremely powerful attacks, enough to kill a Nine-Step Saint King on the spot. But Corpse Emperor Tianming blocked them all. He was not an ordinary cultivator.
The fire died out not long after, and the dimensional rifts disappeared, and everything returned to normal.
Corpse Emperor Tianming’s brows furrowed. “The array and the dimensional barrier here are indeed strange. The harder the attack, the stronger the resistance. I have a feeling that if we forcibly break it open, we would trigger some devastating force, which is extremely dangerous.”
“I have contacted Zhang Ruochen and invited him and the sacred owl to come here. With their attainment in the Path of Dimensions and Arrays, they should be able to defeat the dimensional barrier and array here,” said Elder Patriarch Death Zen.
Corpse Emperor Tianming’s heart skipped a beat. He knew from the get-go that Elder Patriarch Death Zen had gotten everything planned out.
The reason for having him here was not to share the opportunity, but more like wanting him to help deal with contingencies. That was expected, though, as too many cultivators had entered the Dragon Temple ruins. Eventually, those cultivators would find this place. As strong as Elder Patriarch Death Zen was, he would find himself overwhelmed.
Even if Zhang Ruochen and Blackie arrived and defeated the array and dimensional barrier, the situation would still turn into a free-for-all, as everyone would try to grasp something for themselves.
There were many cultivators lying in wait In the ancient forest, secretly monitoring Elder Patriarch Death Zen and Corpse Emperor Tianming.
These cultivators came from the Sunshine Civilization, and the Jinyang Twin Kings were among them.
“Who is this guy? He seems to be extremely strong, no less powerful than Elder Patriarch Death Zen.”
Many among the Sunshine Civilization cultivators stared at Corpse Emperor Tianming with astonishment.
There were only a handful of top cultivators in the Kunlun Realm, and most of them were familiar faces, one of which was none other than Zhang Ruochen, who was the Scion of Time and Space. The others were the sword spirit of the Blood Dripper, Elder Patriarch Death Zen, and Grandmaster Taiyi, who were all leading figures that dominated various Battlefields of Merits.
King Dayang just glanced at Corpse Emperor Tianming. “No matter who they are, they will have to die when they come here.”
“King Dayang, will Zhang Ruochen really come?” asked a Nine-Step Saint King worriedly.
He had heard about Elder Patriarch Death Zen saying that he had contacted Zhang Ruochen. But as long as Zhang Ruochen was still not here, it was still worrying him.
“I believe that no one, including Zhang Ruochen, could resist the temptation of the Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herbs,” said King Dayang.
He then turned to look at a woman beside him. She had a pale face but was stunningly beautiful. “You have done a job this time, Saint King Wuyuan. But I underestimated Elder Patriarch Death Zen and caused you to lose a petal.”
The stunning woman opened her eyes with a faint smile on her face. “Don’t mention it, King Dayang. My sacrifice is nothing as long as we can kill Zhang Ruochen to avenge His Highness Tianzi’s death.”
Having said that, fear still lingered in her. Elder Patriarch Death Zen was extremely powerful, so much so that he could cut off a petal of hers without using the Corpse of God. Had she not escaped into the forest in time, the consequences would be unimaginable.
No one could have expected the Wuyuan Royal Flower to be a top cultivator of the Sunshine Civilization.
It was rare for a Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herb to form into human form and attain the pinnacle of the Saint Kinghood.
“Rumor has it that Zhang Ruochen has extremely high attainment in Dimensional ability. Will he discover the trap we have laid down for him here? Another Nine-Step Saint King looked worried.
A cultivator standing next to King Dayang appeared confident. “Don’t worry, this forest evolved from a microworld that I got through serendipity. This microworld is extremely ancient and contains the dimensional cultivated by the top Supreme Saints, not to mention we have the Jinyang Twin Kings ready to suppress using the Golden Crow Ancient Cauldron. No matter how great Zhang Ruochen is, he is not going to discover anything.”
This person was Saint King Xuankong, a dimensional cultivator of the Sunshine Civilization. He had extraordinary talents in dimensions. Used to practice in the Fane of Dimension, he enjoyed a high status in the Sunshine Civilization.
Besides, he had high attainment in his cultivation base with a solid foundation. So even the Jinyang Twin Kings had to treat him with respect.
Most of the dimensional cultivators from the Fane of Dimension were hostile to Zhang Ruochen. It was easy to figure out why; Gong Ziyan, the young leader of the Fane of Dimension, died at the hands of Zhang Ruochen.
As a dimensional cultivator, Gong Ziyan had received the best training from the Fane of Dimension. But he lost to Zhang Ruochen, who had a lower cultivation base. This was the most poignant humiliation to the Fane of Dimension.
That was the reason many dimensional cultivators from the Fane of Dimension were looking for the opportunity to crush Zhang Ruochen with the Path of Dimension to restore the glory of the Fane of Dimension.
Likewise, Saint King Xuankong was having the same thought.
As soon as he killed Zhang Ruochen, he would rise to fame, his name would spread far and wide, and the Fane of Dimension would reward him handsomely.
