Chapter 975: The Great Improvement

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Zhang Ruochen commented, “Wei Longxing is very powerful. But he is far from those listed on the Half-Saint Rank.”

The Saint Lady once said that those listed on the Half-Saint Rank could match the saints.

Wei Longxing was clearly far from that level.

Yes, he was half a step away from becoming a saint.

The final step was, however, the toughest of all.

It was the most difficult level one had to go by.

Many gave up their lives in order to try to get through the level.

Wei Longxing’s combat power had left those present startled. Even those candidates who once were too arrogant now had to please Wei Longxing, the future Deity, with compliments.

Instead of joining the rest at the lake, Zhang Ruochen and the other two continued to walk down the hill.

Once they were back in Ding Qiu Cultivation Residence, Ji Shui activated the locking formation immediately.

The luminescence of the formation sealed the entrance completely, turning the residence into an enclosed space.

Zhang Ruochen noticed something was wrong. He asked before she could say anything, “What’s the matter? Have you finally decided to cultivate with me?”

She was as cold as ice. She said, “Still pretending? Tell me, how long have you been keeping this?”

When Gu Linfeng had been absent from the banquet the Saintess organized, she was suspicious already. Then, he managed to read the Blood God Map, and even cultivated ten Blood Spiritual Meridians, something only the legendary man was capable of.

How could Ji Shui not suspect him?

“I will never keep anything from you. I wouldn’t dare.”

Zhang Ruochen smirked, and with no sense of fear he extended his hand to grab her waist from the back.

Blood Qi was channeled from Ji Shui’s back, sending Zhang Ruochen off from her with a hit on his chest.

Zhang Ruochen fell but was unhurt. He chuckled, “I know you don’t mean to hurt me. That was easy on me.”

“Really? If you dare to touch me again, I will break all your limbs.”

Ji Shui appeared in front of Zhang Ruochen in a flash, shoving her arm around Zhang Ruochen’s neck, strangling him as her warning.

Yet Zhang Ruochen was not afraid at all. He did not believe Ji Shui had the guts to kill him.

Instead, he wrapped his hand around her arms and gently caressed her. He smiled. “How smooth your hand is. I wonder if the other part of you is equally as smooth?”

“You… You are asking for it…”

Ji Shui pulled her arm from his grip and thrust a palm strike at his chest.

This time, she did not reserve her strength. The palm met Zhang Ruochen’s chest with a loud bang, and he was flung to the wall like an arrow that was released from the bow.

Ji Shui was trembling with rage. Had she not thought of the consequences and the punishment she could have received from Discipline King Haiming, she would have torn Gu Lingfeng into pieces already.

Immediately, she unsealed the Residence and left hurriedly. She could not stay there any longer.

“When I become the Deity, I will ask master for the permission of our marriage. Till then, where else can you run?”

Gu Linfeng let out an evil laugh so loud that she could hear it from the outside.

“What a horrible guy! How could someone like him comprehend the Blood God Map?”

Ji Shui was frustrated and felt powerless over the injustices of life.

Her cultivation was beyond Gu Linfeng. Yet she could not defend herself even when she had been bullied.

Further still, she might have to serve him if he became the Deity, letting him take advantage of her. She could not help but to feel hopeless about her life moving forward.

In the Cultivation Residence, Zhang Ruochen held himself up.

His chest was burning in pain, and he then let out a self-mocking laugh. “Indeed, this is the only way to get rid of her.”

The palm strike was a powerful one. If it had hit Gu Linfeng, he would have been severely wounded.

Unlike Gu Linfeng, Zhang Ruochen possessed the Five Elements Chaotic body, and the wound was nothing severe, but rather a mere bruise.

As soon as he entered the Scroll World, Zhang Ruochen started meditating to check on his newly cultivated Blood Spiritual Meridians.

He used to have only one, and now the number had increased to ten.

The Blood Spiritual Meridians were meant to transport his Holy Qi from the meridian at his lower abdomen to his whole body as his blood flowed, nourishing each of his blood cells. Having ten Meridians would form the cycle of ten days.

“Now that I have ten Blood Spiritual Meridians, the more high-grade blood I consume, the stronger my body will be, and eventually it will be sanctified.”

Not only did the Blood God Map help Zhang Ruochen to cultivate the ten Blood Spiritual Meridians, but also enlightened him about the method to be a sanctified saint.

The human body had seven meridian points on each palm.

Other than that, the arms, legs, thighs, back, organs, head and other parts of the body had multiple meridian points.

Altogether, the body had 144 meridian points.

Opening the meridian points would allow better absorption of the power derived from the divine blood and thus sanctify each of them. As a result, the body would be sanctified and one would become the sanctified saint.

At this point, Zhang Ruochen had opened six meridian points on each palm, not even a tenth of the total.

“While I can’t open the seventh meridian point for now, I can sanctify the twelve which are already open by refining the divine blood.”

Taking out a drop of the divine blood, he began refining.

He could feel his body pulsating, absorbing the power of the divine blood.

Particularly, the ten Blood Spiritual Meridians had the strongest reaction, where he could sense them transporting the energy to the Feng Chi meridian points on his palms.

After refining the drop of divine blood, there was no sign of sanctification.

He then refined the second drop, the third, and so on…

When he had refined the seventh drop of the divine blood, he could finally see changes in the Feng Chi meridian point on his right palm. The point shone brilliantly like an apparent bright star twinkling in the darkness.

He had succeeded!

“The sanctification did happen.”

Zhang Ruochen was overwhelmed with excitement.

He could feel that his body was more energized than before, and the Blood Qi in his body was stronger than ever.

Zhang Ruochen spent the following six months refining more divine blood, and eventually had all twelve of the meridian points sanctified.

He had used seven drops of divine blood in sanctifying the first meridian point.

The twelfth drop meridian point, however, required nineteen drops of divine blood.

In total, he had used up 156 drops of the divine blood to sanctify all twelve meridian points.

This rate of consumption was too much to bear; even the famous ancient family might not be able to afford it. But it did not matter to Zhang Ruochen. As long as he could sanctify his body, none of this would matter.

Each of his palms had six brightly lit meridian points, as powerful as they seemed.

“If I could launch the Seven Apertures Blood Palm attack, the destructive power would be at least 70% stronger than what I was capable of. This would be stronger than any of the saint spells.”

With the intensive cultivation, in addition to having the Fourth Class Divine Origin Pill as a supplement, Zhang Ruochen had achieved the Level Four of Half Saint.

Without the ten Blood Spiritual Meridians, Zhang Ruochen would not have believed how fast he was.

“I should open the seventh meridian point, then sanctify it. My power will be further elevated when all seven points are connected as one. Each of my strikes will be equivalent to the strength of controlling the Seven Stars.”

A saint level elephant soul was required in order for him to open the seventh meridian point.

He knew he had to wait for a little while more to search for the elephant soul, as the day of the battle of the Deity was getting closer.

With his current strength, he was confident he could take the spot.

“I have always wanted to teach you how to be a sanctified saint. But you are always one step ahead.”

Blackie let out a long sigh.

Half a month ago, it had returned to the Blood God Sect to inform Zhang Ruochen of good and bad news.

The good news was, three of the letters had been successfully retrieved.

The bad news was, the fourth letter to Kong Lanyou had been delivered to her.

The results were what he had anticipated when he first asked Blackie to retrieve the letters. So, he wasn’t angry about the bad news.

It had been his plan to visit Kong Lanyou after the battle of the Deity during his trip to the Royal Capital.

“You knew about the method to be the sanctified saint?” Zhang Ruochen sounded a little surprised.

Blackie replied with its nose in the air. “There is nothing I do not know about.”

Zhang Ruochen chuckled at the reply. He did not believe Blackie at all. He then left the Scroll World and went back to the Ding Qiu Cultivation Residence.

When Ji Shui met Zhang Ruochen again, she was so surprised and shrieked, “You have become a Level Four Half-Saint?”

Zhang Ruochen mimicked Blackie, tilting his chin upward, and said, “My small accomplishment after cultivating for a month.”

Zhang Ruochen looked like a total jerk when he did that triumphant look.

“It’s only been a month, but you have advanced from Level Two to Level Three, and now Level Three to Level Four of Half-Saint. How is that possible?”

Ji Shui could not calm herself down.

“I will tell you the reason with the condition of you agreeing to my marriage proposal.”

Zhang Ruochen curled his lips, staring at Ji Shui’s hourglass body.

Ji Shui hissed, clearly irritated. Channeling the Blood Qi to her palms, the ground underneath her frosted and the ice spread to Zhang Ruochen.

Zhang Ruochen knew he had gotten on her nerves, then said, “I know I’ve been pushing too hard on the marriage proposal. How about… you show me your true face?”

Ji Shui did not attack him, and withdrew her Blood Qi instead.

“You don’t have to tell me. I know it’s related to the Blood God Map.”

Instead of lashing out at Zhang Ruochen like she used to do, she answered calmly. “If you can be the Deity, not only will you be able to see my true self, but I will also be yours. Master has said so. Are you happy now?”

She might have seemed calm, but the tone sounded more like her giving up on herself. She no longer fought back and gave in to the fate.

When you are not a saint, you are nothing.