Chapter 970: The Way of Darkness

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Ding Qiu Cultivation Residence was at the foot of Qianyuan Mountain. It was only a few hundred meters high and was basically a bad residence. Even still, the Spiritual Qi density inside was shockingly high. It far surpassed other spiritual lands.

The two entered the residence. The bloody mist was gradually collected into Ji Shui’s body. It revealed a tall figure, two plump bosoms, and a pair of delicate and porcelain-like hands.

However, she still wore a blood-red hood, covering her face. Zhang Ruochen couldn’t tell her age and appearance.

“There are two things Master asked me to give you.”

Ji Shui took a boxing glove and gave it to Zhang Ruochen. The dark purple glove was very heavy. Seven pieces of saint jade were embedded in the palm. Each jade was a different color, but they were all filled with power. They demanded awe like seven stars hanging in the dark sky.

“How can the saintly jades be so powerful?”

Zhang Ruochen had a feeling that if he put on the glove and activated its power, he could smash the ground with one punch.

“The seven pieces of saintly jade on the Seven Kill Boxing Glove aren’t natural saintly jades. They’re bone jades made from the bones of seven saints and burned for 700 years.”

“To help you compete for the Deity’s position, Master personally borrowed this treasure from the Seven Kill Clan. I will give you three days to tame the spirit within the Seven Kill Boxing Glove and make it your own weapon.”

Since it was a clan’s treasure, how could it be lent to outsiders? Discipline King Haiming must have robbed them. The Seven Kill Clan didn’t dare to anger a Discipline King of the Blood God Sect.

The Seven Kill Boxing Glove was low on the Thousand-pattern Saint Weapon List, but it was still a Thousand-pattern Saint Weapon. It was extremely valuable.

Ji Shui took out a pill bottle. “Inside are 30 Tao Pills. Take one each day. One month later, you should be able to reach the middle or later stage of the third level.”

The Tao Pill was an Eighth-class Pill. Each one was worth an entire saint stone. For Monks in the Fish-Dragon Realm and lower Half-Saint realm, it was a magical pill to raise their cultivations.

Of course, it was scarily expensive. A typical low level Half-Saint couldn’t afford it, let alone a Monk in the Fish-Dragon Realm. A first level Half-Saint’s entire fortune was probably only worth a single saint stone.

Zhang Ruochen accepted the 30 Tao Pills without any excitement. He seemed very calm. No matter how powerful Tao Pills were, they weren’t even one-tenth of divine blood.

Seeing how unfazed Gu Linfeng was, Ji Shui was instantly confused.

After all, she’d personally gone to the Yuan Mansion to investigate Gu Linfeng. This man was frivolous and lustful, aggressive and violent, but also easily intimidated by more powerful people.

Gu Linfeng had also been like this after arriving at the Blood God Sect.

Ji Shui sometimes pitied him, but deep inside, she looked down on him. She didn’t think that someone like Gu Linfeng could become the Deity at all. The flaws of his personality meant that he wouldn’t have very high accomplishments.

How could he be so unmoved when he saw the 30 Tao Pills and Seven Kill Boxing Glove?

Ji Shui quickly discovered that something was wrong. Gu Linfeng’s eyes stared straight at her chest and he smirked.

“Senior Uncle Ji’s figure doesn’t lose when compared to the Saintess. Why do you always hide yourself in the bloody mist?”

Zhang Ruochen rested his chin on his fingers. Staring at the shocking curve of Ji Shui’s chest, he seemed to be studying and calculating the size.

Ji Shui huffed coldly. Powerful blood Qi flooded out and covered the entire cave residence. Feeling the coldness from Ji Shui’s body, Zhang Ruochen immediately retreated. He didn’t stop until he was pressed against the wall.

The Ding Qiu Cultivation Residence transformed into an eerie hell. Ghostly cries and wails sounded amidst the bloody fog. Shadows of white skeletons appeared too. It was terrifying.

Ji Shui stood in the heart of the sea of blood Qi. Her entire body was red. “Gu Linfeng,” she said, “you better not be so ridiculous. If you get ideas about me, you’ll die a tragic death.”

“Senior Uncle, why are you so angry? I was complimenting you.” Without showing any fear, Zhang Ruochen chuckled and added, “If I become the Deity and ask grand-master to let me marry you, do you think he’d agree?”

Hearing this, even someone like Ji Shui was shocked. She was clear that if Gu Linfeng became the Deity, his status would skyrocket to an unimaginable level. If Gu Linfeng really wished to marry her, Discipline King Haiming would definitely agree.

How would she act then? Could she go against Discipline King Haiming? She’d thought many times about betraying the Blood God Sect and being free of Discipline King Haiming’s control.

However, Discipline King Haiming was like an unmovable mountain pressing down on her. Anyone who dared to betray him would die. Her family would also be exterminated.

“You can say that when you become the Deity.” When Ji Shui said this, she looked very calm.

She was clear that her fortune was never in her own hands.

In the end, she and Gu Linfeng were the same. They were both pitiful people, like ants. If Discipline King Haiming wanted them to be alive, then they would be alive. If he wanted them to do something, they wouldn’t dare to do the opposite.

Of course, she definitely didn’t think that, with his personality, Gu Linfeng could become the Deity. He would forever be a slave controlled by Discipline King Haiming.

Ji Shui’s delicate frame split into nine streams of blood Qi and flew out of the cave residence. She didn’t want to cultivate with Gu Linfeng.

Seeing Ji Shui leave the cave residence, Zhang Ruochen wiped his smile away. “I finally forced her away,” he muttered to himself. “With her here, I can’t use the Universe Spiritual Map to cultivate.”

Looking at the Seven Kill Boxing Glove, Zhang Ruochen’s lips curled up. “It won’t take three days to tame the spirit of a low level Thousand-pattern Saint Weapon.”

Zhang Ruochen activated the formation of the Ding Qiu Cultivation Residence. Then he took out the Universe Spiritual Map and went into the scroll world.

It didn’t take long for him to refine the Seven Kill Boxing Glove and control the spirit. Putting it on his right hand, it felt as if the glove had become one with his hand and wrist. If he added Holy Qi into it, he could control it at will.

“With the Seven Kill Boxing Glove, I can defeat a seventh level Half-Saint with only palm techniques, not even using my sword or the power of space.”

Since he had the Seven Kill Boxing Glove and Abyss Ancient Sword, other weapons were useless.

Zhang Ruochen took a dozen weapons from his spatial ring. Most were of the True Treasure Class, but some were also saint weapons. The most powerful one was definitely the Yulin Blood Sword from the Hundred-pattern Saint Weapon list and the Seven Saint Snake Lance, a Thousand-pattern Weapon.

Next, he took out the Abyss Ancient Sword. He refined all the other weapons and melded them into the sword.

The Yulin Blood Sword and Seven Saint Snake Lance were tempting even for Saints, but Zhang Ruochen didn’t find it a loss.

The Abyss Ancient Sword alone was worth tens of thousands of weapons.

After refining all the weapons, the Abyss Ancient Sword was even heavier. It shone blindingly. There were now more than 1,300 runes inside.

“Once there are 2,000 runes, the Abyss Ancient Sword’s power will skyrocket again. Unfortunately, I must refine countless Thousand-pattern Saint Weapons to reach that step.”

Every Thousand-pattern Saint Weapon was the top treasure of a clan or sect. They weren’t easy to obtain.

Without thinking more, Zhang Ruochen began to practice his sword.

“Four Changes of Scale One.”

Zhang Ruochen lifted the Abyss Ancient Sword. He created five time marks in a row, added a sword technique, and stabbed forward.

The time within hundreds of feet slowed down while the sword was shockingly fast. It cut across the sky like a beam of black light and was instantly hundreds of feet away.

“With this tactic, who within hundreds of feet from me will be my match?” Zhang Ruochen asked himself.

Four Changes of Scale One was known to be an undefeatable sword technique within hundreds of feet. If Zhang Ruochen reached the fourth level of the Half-Saint Realm, he would be able to intimidate even a ninth level Half-Saint with just this move.

In the following time, Zhang Ruochen continued to refine his time sword technique. He wanted to connect this technique with his Sword Intent as much as possible to produce even stronger power.

At the same time, he wanted to complete the second move of the Eight Changes of Scale, the Divine Chaos of Scale Two. The second move was more powerful than the first.

While Zhang Ruochen practiced his sword, a 100-foot-long black hole flew over from the distance. It hung in the sky and absorbed all the surrounding light and heat. It looked very eerie.

It could swallow light.

A beautiful feminine voice sounded from within the black hole. “Such a powerful sword technique. I’ve cultivated for countless years within the Universe Spiritual Map and have reached the Half-Saint Realm, but I doubt I can block a single from hit.”

Zhang Ruochen naturally noticed the hovering black hole. He put away his sword and smiled. “The Form of Darkness truly gets stronger as you cultivate it. Han Qiu, with your physical state, it’ll be hard to find a rival in the same plane as you.”

The black hole warped slightly and a beautiful young girl walked out slowly. She landed on the ground.

It was Han Qiu.

She radiated with an icy aura, but there was a graceful smile on her white face. “Unfortunately, I’m still much weaker than you.”

Zhang Ruochen stared at her and made a noise of surprise. “Your main cultivation seems to be extraordinary.”

There were 3,000 Major Ways and 10,000 Minor Ways. In addition to the Major Ways, there were 72 Supreme Saintly Ways and nine Ancient Ways.

Han Qiu’s cultivation wasn’t a Major Way. It had even…surpassed the Supreme Saintly Ways.

“Could it be an Ancient Way?” Zhang Ruochen was a bit moved.

Han Qiu nodded. “It’s the Way of Darkness, one of the nine Ancient Ways.”

No one was clearer than Zhang Ruochen about how difficult the Ancient Ways were to cultivate. When he comprehended the rules of time and space while in the Ninth Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm, he’d risked his life to push himself to his limit. He’d used up all his potential to comprehend the rules of the two Ancient Ways and start on the path.

“How did you comprehend the rules of darkness?” Zhang Ruochen asked.

Having the Form of Darkness was definitely an advantage. However, comprehending the rules of darkness in the Fish-Dragon Realm was harder than reaching heaven.

Throughout the history of Kunlun’s Field, it was rare to find even one creature that focused on the rules of darkness.

It was evident how horrifically difficult it was.

If Han Qiu didn’t have a shocking opportunity, it would be impossible for her to comprehend them in the Fish-Dragon Realm. However, she’d stayed in the scroll world before reaching the Half-Saint Realm. She hadn’t interacted with the outside world.

Could her opportunity have been in the scroll world?

This was even more shocking. After all, Zhang Ruochen was more familiar with the scroll world than Han Qiu. If there really was something incredible in the scroll world, Zhang Ruochen should be the first to know.