Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Ling Feiyu was a little surprised by his words. She didn’t expect that Zhang Ruochen would agree to sell divine blood in such a short time.
But naturally, it would be a good thing for her.
“What do you want for trade? Saint rock? Saint decree? Saint pill? Or a saint guardian?”
As one of the nine Imperial Empresses of the Demonic Sect who had practiced for 300 years, Ling Feiyu had accumulated a large amount of fortune and resources, incomparable to any other saint.
And in her eyes, Zhang Ruochen now had made enemies everywhere, was under attack from all sides, and was in desperate need of a saint guardian to protect him secretly. So she made the suggestion.
As long as Zhang Ruochen could sell her divine blood, it wouldn’t cost Ling Feiyu much to introduce a saint to be his guardian with her influence.
“Why should I trade divine blood with the things that I could buy or trade from others?”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head, and said, “I’d like Sword Saint to practice sword with me. How about ten drops of divine blood for one fight?”
It was clear to Ling Feiyu that the purpose of Zhang Ruochen asking her to practice sword with him was to secretly study Way of Sword from her.
It’s the best way for one to comprehend Way of Sword.
Zhang Ruochen could secretly acquire Ling Feiyu’s Way of Sword during their fights, as long as he was wise enough.
It had to be known that even Sword Saint’s own disciples could only have few chances to fight with her, which showed clearly that the chance to fight with a Sword Saint was rarely granted.
“Ten drops of divine blood for one fight. That’s a fair deal.”
Ling Feiyu nodded slightly, and added, “But you have to be clear about this: I will not teach you anything during our fights. In fact, I will have real fights with you, with no holding back.”
It was a great honor for the lower rank Half-Saint that a Sword Saint should agree to practice sword with him.
Zhang Ruochen was rather excited, and said, “Yes, yes. Only in fighting with full strength could you display your true power.”
Ling Feiyu was annoyed by the confidence of Zhang Ruochen, and said, “Even though I suppressed my cultivation to your level, how many strikes of mine could you defend?”
“To be honest with you, I didn’t display half of my power in the Sword Tomb last time. If I fight with full power, I’m afraid that you can’t resist even one single strike.”
Zhang Ruochen knew clearly the gap between him and the Sword Saint, so he said frankly, “Just one strike of a Sword Saint is enough for some Sword Monks to learn for their entire life.”
The Way of Time and the Way of Space were so unfathomable that Zhang Ruochen could get lost in the distorted and unreal time and space.
Therefore, he decided that he would focus on Way of Sword at the state of Half-Saint.
After he became a saint and had stronger spiritual power, it would still be enough time for him to comprehend the Way of Time and Space.
Of course, the Space Domain and the Sword Technique of Time practiced by him were also preparations for the future.
There were reasons that Ling Feiyu agreed to practice sword with Zhang Ruochen.
First, she surely wanted divine blood.
The value of divine blood was so great that it couldn’t purchased randomly from the market. A drop of divine blood would be invaluable to her.
Second, Ling Feiyu still remembered the Sword Technique of Time played by Zhang Ruochen in the Sword Tomb.
Zhang Ruochen wanted to secretly learn from her, and so did she.
If she could comprehend something from the Sword Technique of Time, her Way of Sword would be greatly improved.
So the two agreed upon mutual benefits.
Zhang Ruochen naturally didn’t want to fight Ling Feiyu right away. After all, they had fought not long ago. And little things would have been changed now.
That’s why Zhang Ruochen planned to go to the Sword Tomb first and improve his cultivation and Way of Sword.
After certain progress was achieved, he would come to her.
Ling Feiyu saw that Zhang Ruochen planned to go to the Sword Tomb, and said, “In the past, I had brought Xiang Zhengfeng to the Sword Tomb and let the Patriarch Spirit of Zhutian Sword identify him. The sword spirit of Zhutian Sword didn’t detect his connection with the Immortal Vampires.”
Zhang Ruochen was confused. “How’s that possible? Could it be that Xiang Zhengfeng had been in touch with Immortal Vampire before he was granted Zhutian Sword?”
The fourth disciple of Sword Saint Xuanji, Feng Han, came to Zhang Ruochen’s mind.
Wasn’t he a spy planted beside Sword Saint Xuanji by the Immortal Vampires? If the Taotian Sword had been given to Feng Han, its sword spirit wouldn’t know his connection with the Immortal Vampires either.
“I trust you more, comparatively. Therefore, I’ve used my right as a Keeper of the Sword and have thrown Xiang Zhengfeng into the Underground Spirit Prison.”
Zhang Ruochen didn’t ask why Ling Feiyu trusted him, but stared at her with thoughts. Then he left the cave for the Sword Tomb.
It was always in a strong-minded way that Ling Feiyu would deal with matters, which was not unfamiliar to Zhang Ruochen.
Therefore, her putting Xiang Zhengfeng into the Underground Spirit Prison didn’t surprise him at all.
Ling Feiyu didn’t enter the Sword Tomb to keep an eye on Zhang Ruochen. She only took the Taotian Sword away and kept it for the moment.
After entering the Sword Tomb, Zhang Ruochen didn’t walk straight to meet all the previous Spirits of Patriarchs of the Taotian Sword, but went to the top of a volcano.
He let Blackie out to construct a sophisticated Invisibility Formation at the crater.
Only after the Formation was completed did Zhang Ruochen enter Universe Spiritual Map. He went to Divine Sky-Connecting Tree and picked up the Abyss Ancient Sword from its base.
“Abyss.”
Zhang Ruochen called a name.
An about 4-inch-tall human shadow with a pair of black wings appeared from the black sword. He was good-looking, and about 70% like Zhang Ruochen.
The sword spirit said, “I know you have many questions and concerns, but I’m sorry that I can’t give you the answers.”
“Why?” asked Zhang Ruochen.
The sword spirit said, “Not long after you died, the body of the Abyss Ancient Sword was cut in two. Then I fell into a deep sleep until today when you woke me up.”
Zhang Ruochen frowned hard, “Did Chi Yao use the Dripping Blood Sword to chop you?”
The sword spirit shook his head and said sadly, “My love with Dripping Blood was no less than yours with Chi Yao. Love of swords is more sincere than that of humans. Chi Yao can kill you, but Dripping Blood will never hurt me.”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. “But is there any other battle weapon that can chop you?”
“Of course. Saint Sword Wujian surely can.”
“The legendary Saint Sword Wujian showed up in Kunlun’s Field?” Zhang Ruochen couldn’t suppress his shock even with such a high state of mind.
The sword spirit said, “Yes, it did.”
Saint Sword Wujian was one of the Ten Ancient Divine Weapons, which was said to be a sword casted from original materials of space.
Even if an ordinary person gave a slight wave of the Saint Sword Wujian with no assistance of Holy Qi, he could cut the space.
The so-called “Wujian” meant that there would be no Spacial Boundary.
The legend of the Ten Divine Weapons was so old that it was rarely heard in the middle ages. How could Saint Sword Wujian suddenly show up 800 years ago and chop the Abyss Ancient Sword?
Zhang Ruochen asked, “Who’s the master of Saint Sword Wujian?”
Sword Spirit shook his head. “It just flew from beyond the horizon. I wanted to run away but failed. After the sword body was chopped, I was put in a deep sleep and remained unconscious for the past 800 years.”
Zhang Ruochen put the Abyss Ancient Sword away, feeling disappointed. Instead of getting some useful information, he became even more confused than before.
Zhang Ruochen took a Withered Pill and prepared to nurture himself.
Only after a night, Zhang Ruochen became fully recovered.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t start to practice the second level of the Sword Technique of Time immediately, but refined divine blood first. He was going to elevate his cultivation to the peak of a First Level Half-Saint.
It became clear to Zhang Ruochen during his fight with Feng Qin that fighting a powerful figure whose cultivation was way above his was truly stressful.
If Zhang Ruochen had the power of a First Level Half-Saint at the peak, he could be more at ease and wouldn’t be hurt so badly.
For the last month, Zhang Ruochen had been practicing Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm and Sword Three while refining the divine blood.
By practicing the Palm and Sword Three, he could absorb the divine blood more quickly.
One month passed.
Zhang Ruochen sat under the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree with his legs crossed. He was surrounded by clouds of Holy Qi, as if he was sitting in the middle of Chaos. Rays of sword Qi shaped in sword forms circulated through him.
His cultivation had reached the peak of a First Level Half-Saint, improving at least 70% from the primary time of a First Level Half-Saint.
And his Way of Sword had also been improved as he reached the fourth level of Sword Three.
Now that Zhang Ruochen’s power had been greatly improved, he had complete confidence that he could defeat Feng Qin without Destruction of the Thousand-patterns.
It would be hard for him to make another breakthrough, now that he had reached the peak of a First Level Half-Saint.
So Zhang Ruochen made a stop and left the Scroll World. He reappeared at the crater of the volcano in the Sword Tomb.
One month in the Scroll World was only three days in the outside.
Blackie had been guarding for the past three days.
Of course it had been busy arranging all kinds of battle formations around the volcano: Defence Battle Formation, Attack Battle Formation, Fantasy Formation, Invisibility Formation and so on. If counted carefully, one could see that there were already nine powerful battle formations built.
Zhang Ruochen asked, “Blackie, what’s your plan?”
“It grew more and more unpeaceful in the Pluto Sword Tomb, I have to prepare in advance to build a fortress to protect us and to choose whether to attack or take defense. If Immortal Vampires did come through, we could retreat and hide here.”
Blackie didn’t stop his claws arranging the formations, and asked, “What about you? Prepared to greet all the Patriarchs of the Taotian Sword?”
Zhang Ruochen thought for a while, and said, “No rush. I have some progress in my cultivation and Way of Sword, I should go and try a fight with Ling Feiyu. I wonder…how powerful could she be if she gave full strength?”
