Zhang Ruochen didn’t care whether Xue Tu was telling the truth or not. He said, “I need you to do something for me. You should have some time, right?”

“It’s my bounden duty to help Senior brother.”

Xue Tu patted his chest. The next moment, his eyes moved and he asked in a low voice, “Is it dangerous? I’m only at Neverwilt Realm. I’m afraid I can’t do something too dangerous!”

“It’s not dangerous. Just help me ask about something.”

Xue Tu breathed a sigh of relief. “What is it?”

“I want to know everything about Southern Sword Realm,” Zhang Ruochen said.

Xue Tu’s eyes were filled with confusion. “Southern Sword Realm? Is there such a macroworld in the Myriad Realms of Celestial Court?”

“No. Southern Sword Realm isn’t a subordinate mortal world of Celestial Court. It’s a macroworld without any gods. It should be under the control of some force in Infernal Court now,” Zhang Ruochen said.

Xue Tu’s worries were swept away, he smiled and said, “I was wondering why I hadn’t heard of it before. Turn out it’s a weak realm without gods. There are so many macroworlds like this in Infernal Court. It’s a piece of cake. I’ll go check it out.”

Just as he was about to leave, he stopped again and said with a fake smile, “Senior, look at me. Should I go barefoot working for you? Honestly, I could go barefoot, but I can’t be naked right?”

“If you like being naked, go naked!”

Zhang Ruochen passed through an invisible light screen and entered the array of Vastsea Manor. His body disappeared.

Xue Tu clenched his fists. He was too angry to speak. Finally, he stomped his feet and rushed to Realm of Star Ocean. It seemed that he had to take out a part of the Godstones that he had just stored.

Zhang Ruochen walked out of the array again and looked in the direction where Xue Tu had left. He said to Lord Sinluo beside him, “Lord Sinluo, follow him quietly and keep a close watch on him.”

“Don’t worry. If he dares to play tricks, I’ll break his legs.”

Lord Sinluo used a Cloaking Saint Technique. He disappeared and followed Xue Tu quietly.

Zhang Ruochen had promised the group of Celestial Captives that he would protect Southern Sword Realm for 10,000 years.

They had all died in Battlefield of Celestial-Hunting. However, Zhang Ruochen had made a promise. He naturally took it to heart and would definitely fulfill it.

Zhang Ruochen activated Sundial again. He was not in a hurry to cultivate. Instead, he took out a blood-red bead and removed Supreme Saint Yanhong’s skeleton from the bead’s internal space.

Supreme Saint Yanhong’s body was a divine bone. Legend had it that she had woken up in the depths of Sanzu River. She had been killed three times by a Paramount Realm Supreme Saint and had been resurrected three times. She could be said to be immortal.

Her divine bone body was 1,800 miles tall.

Zhang Ruochen had used dimensional chains to confine her. Now, she looked about the same height as a normal human.

He laid her down on the ground. Other than her head, her entire body was pink. The bone seemed to be made of jade. It was crystal clear and gave off a faint divine light.

Immortal Inscriptions could be faintly seen inside the bones. It was extremely mysterious and contained incomprehensible rhymes of Path.

Zhang Ruochen’s finger touched the bone on her left hand. He immediately felt as if he had been electrocuted. The divine light emitted from the bone repelled any cultivator who came into contact with her.

“Interesting. As expected of Pink Skull that even a Paramount Realm Supreme Saint couldn’t kill. She really is dead but not stiff.”

Zhang Ruochen could sense that the divine bone on her body was slowly absorbing the death Qi between heaven and earth.

The cranium of Pink Skull that had been attacked by Zhang Ruochen with three drops of Dark Space-time Matter turned dark. Immortal Inscriptions in the divine bone had also become very dim.

Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes, mobilized his spiritual power, and gathered them at his fingertips.

He pointed at the forehead of Pink Skull.

His spiritual power condensed into an electric shuttle and rushed into her skull from his fingertips.

There was a strange area inside her skull that could not be explored. It was blurry. As soon as Zhang Ruochen’s spiritual power rushed into that area, it was immediately counterattacked by a powerful force.

Boom!

Where Zhang Ruochen’s fingertips and Pink Skull’s glabella touched, a divine light wave exploded. The force was so powerful that Zhang Ruochen staggered back four steps.

“It contains such terrifying energy. It seems that Dark Space-time Matter didn’t kill Pink Skull.”

Zhang Ruochen didn’t dare to probe further. He rested his chin on his finger and thought carefully.

Was Pink Skull a Bone Clan cultivator with intelligence or a living God?

If it was the latter…

Keeping her by his side would be an uncontrollable disaster.

In the next half a year, Zhang Ruochen studied the Immortal Inscriptions on Pink Skull. He tried to draw them on spiritual papers, but all of them failed.

The Immortal Inscriptions were too complicated and mysterious. The best attempt was when Zhang Ruochen managed to draw half of it. Yet the inscription still collapsed and turned into wisps of red smoke.

In the library of Sevenstar Imperial Palace, Zhang Ruochen found some records related to Immortal Inscriptions.

The so-called Immortal Inscriptions could only be cultivated by top-level gods. The more Immortal Inscriptions one cultivated, the more chance one could fight against the Yuanhui tribulation and live another Yuanhui period.

The reason why Truegods were hard to kill was also related to Immortal Inscriptions.

“Forget it. I’ll study Immortal Inscriptions after my spiritual power reaches the 66th level!”

The 66th level of spiritual power was another major watershed for spiritual-power Supreme Saints. Once one reached it, one could fight against Thousand-Koan Realm Supreme Saint using only spiritual power.

Moreover, the cultivator’s vitality will be greatly increased, and his spiritual power could be integrated into his body.

Even if his body was destroyed, his spiritual power could not be destroyed.

Kymorpho in Thousand-Koan Realm Celestial Captive was a 66th-level spiritual-power Supreme Saint. With her powerful spiritual power, she could hide her strength and deceive the pseudo gods of Fane of Destiny.

Zhang Ruochen didn’t want to alert the gods, so he didn’t look for Blood Empress and Wargod Bloodximius. Instead, he sent Pink Skull into Qiankun Realm.

In Qiankun Realm, death Qi was thin.

If Pink Skull wanted to wake up by absorbing death Qi, it would take hundreds or thousands of years. Even if she woke up, as long as she wasn’t a real God, Zhang Ruochen could suppress her again.

Zhang Ruochen tried to communicate with the Canon Mark of Swordsmanship left by Empress of Thousand Bones on the trunk of Divine Sky-connecting Tree. Unfortunately, her divine spirit did not appear this time.

“Lady Wind has just died. The entire Divine Domain of Destiny is in a state of panic. All the cultivators of Avīci Pavilion have gone into hiding. The Empress should have also left. It seems that I can only contact her again when I am far away from Divine Domain of Destiny.”

Zhang Ruochen left Qiankun Realm, but Xue Tu and Lord Sinluo were still not back.

So, he took out the bronze coffin containing the god’s corpse again, he thought, “I’ve almost exposed all my trump cards in the battle of Celestial-Hunting and the battle with Yan Wushen. If someone wants to kill me, they must have analyzed me thoroughly, prepared well, and been able to predict all my moves. I must prepare one or two powerful tricks that no one knows about.”

Zhang Ruochen had a strong sense of crisis in Infernal Court.

So, he decided to nurture God-eater Bugs at all costs.

He placed the bronze coffin within the coverage of Sundial. Zhang Ruochen did not immediately fly into the coffin. Instead, he tried to use his spiritual power to communicate with Sundial.

The communication failed.

Zhang Ruochen had no choice but to fly into the bronze coffin himself. Suddenly, Mark of Time condensed by Sundial followed him into the vast dimension in the coffin.

When he landed on the surface of the god’s corpse, Zhang Ruochen first carefully observed God-eater Bugs that were sleeping.

Then, he found a place where there was no divine poison and began to cultivate.

Wargod Bloodximius had pointed out his weakness. Zhang Ruochen also knew what he needed to make up for. At the moment, there were at least two things he needed to do besides breaking his shackles.

First, he needed to cultivate Path of Truth. He wanted to be able to draw out ten times the attack power in a shorter time when he fights.

Second, he needed to combine Yin Yang Five-Element Saintwill with Thousand-Koan level Saint Technique.

The second thing was the most important one.

Although Yin Yang Five-Element Saintwill was powerful, Zhang Ruochen could not integrate it into the Saint Technique and use it as he pleased. He could only use the Saintwill superficially and attack alone.

To cultivate Yin Yang Five-Element Saintwill perfectly, it was necessary to integrate it into the Saint Technique first. Only then, one could gain a deep understanding of it through endless battles.

“Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike is a Thousand-Koan level Saint Technique that I am most familiar with. Let Yin Yang Five-Element Saintwill combines with it first.”

Zhang Ruochen spread his arms and slowly released Yin Yang Five-Element Saintwill, condensing a huge Taiji Mark.

…

Time passed quickly.

Zhang Ruochen cultivated for one year and three months in the bronze coffin.

He only cultivated Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike and Yin Yang Five-Element Saintwill every day. He cultivated it more than 10,000 times, thus his proficiency in both increased greatly.

It took a lot of time for a Hundred-Shackle Realm Supreme Saint to use a Thousand-Koan level’s advanced Saint Technique.

After cultivating for more than a year, the time for Zhang Ruochen to display Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike was at least half of what it used to be. However, when he wanted to combine it with Yin Yang Five-Element Saintwill, he could not succeed.

“I’ll try again. If I still can’t combine it, I won’t waste any more time. I will put up with the second best. It should be much easier for me to combine Saintwill with a Hundred-Shackle Realm’s advanced Saint Technique.”

Whoosh

With a thought, Taiji Mark formed by Yin Yang Five-Element Saintwill floated in front of Zhang Ruochen.

Then, he drew his bow and stepped forward. His powerful masculinity ignited his entire body.

Ten Swastika Seiryu phantoms coiled around his left arm.

On his right arm, the phantoms of the ten Intergold Tigers howled.

As the power of the palms grew stronger, Taiji Mark in front of him was pulled into a hollow distortion. It kept rushing toward his two palms.

“Hold on. Quick, just a little bit more…”

Zhang Ruochen’s palms were already burning gold. It was as if they were going to melt. The palm power was accumulated to the peak. However, this palm strike had not struck out.

It could not be struck out yet.

“Supress it!”

Zhang Ruochen made a bold decision. He released Profound Spatial Dimension and used Power of Dimensions to forcibly merge Taiji Mark toward the two palms.

Unexpectedly, it worked.

When Taiji Mark and his palms were completely merged, Zhang Ruochen felt as if his hands did not belong to him anymore. They were as heavy as mountains and he could no longer control the power of his palms.

Bang!

His right palm struck forward with an earth-shaking tiger roar.

The terrifying palm power surged out of the bronze coffin and turned into a golden pillar that shot into the sky.

The bronze coffin was like a bell that had been struck. It made an ear-splitting sound and sent everyone who was cultivating under Sundial flying.

Xue Tu had just entered Vastsea Manor. Before he could call out “Senior brother,” he was sent flying by the power from the bronze coffin. He crashed heavily into the light wall of the array.

Blood flowed out of his ears.

…

Inside the bronze coffin.

Zhang Ruochen stood on the surface of the god’s corpse and looked at the two bloody palms.

The power of that palm was too powerful. It was so powerful that he couldn’t control it, and even hurt himself.

However, Zhang Ruochen looked up at the sky and laughed. He was in a good mood.

No matter what, Yin Yang Five-Element Saintwill had finally merged with Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike. Even if it didn’t work every time. Even if it takes a long time to activate it. Even if he would hurt himself by it.

However, this was a good start!

As long as he cultivated diligently, there would be a day when he could master it.

At that time, the palm will be where the heart was.

“If I want to cultivate Yin Yang Five-Element Saintwill to full strength, perhaps Power of Dimensions will play a huge role.”

“Dimensions… Yin Yang… Five-Elements…”

“Yin Yang… Dimensions… Five-Elements…”

Zhang Ruochen stood still and repeated these words, trying to find the key to cultivate Grade One Saintwill.

Everything has two sides, Yin and Yang.

Everything is a part of the dimensions.

Everything is composed of Five-Elements.

After thinking for a long time, Zhang Ruochen could not figure it out. He could only shake his head.

How could he comprehend Grade One Saintwill in a day?

Outside the bronze coffin, Zhang Ruochen sensed the aura of Xue Tu. He stopped cultivating and flew back to Vastsea Manor. The wounds on his palms had healed themselves.

Zhang Ruochen stared at Lian Xi and asked, “How many Godstones are consumed in a day?”

“15,” said Lian Xi.

Zhang Ruochen frowned deeply, he muttered to himself, “It’s actually 15 times more than normal. Indeed, the larger the dimension, the greater the consumption. I wonder if the consumption of Godstones are affected by the cultivator’s stronger cultivation or the more amount of cultivators cultivating inside the broze coffin.”

Cultivating for a year cost 15 Godstones.

Cultivating for 1,000 years cost 15,000 Godstones.

An ordinary Supreme Saint could not afford to waste such amount of Godstones.

Xue Tu walked carefully behind Zhang Ruochen and said, “Senior brother, I’ve found out the information about Southern Sword Realm!”

Zhang Ruochen turned around and asked seriously, “What’s the general situation? Which force is in control of Southern Sword Realm?”

Xue Tu said, “The situation is a bit complicated! Originally, Divination Division of Fane of Destiny had figured out the location of Southern Sword Realm in the universe. It is for Death Palace — one of the 12 Fane of Destiny — to go there and attacked it. At last, becoming the private territory of Death Palace.

“But not long ago, a few forces joined forces and paid a high price to buy Southern Sword Realm from Death Palace’s Black Robe High Priest.”

Zhang Ruochen snorted. “Not long ago? How long ago?”

“Not long after Battle of Celestial-Hunting,” Xue Tu said.

Zhang Ruochen nodded slightly, he said thoughtfully, “Southern Sword Realm doesn’t have a powerful inheritance or a treasure land. There’s only one cultivator who reached Supreme Saint Realm through his own trial and error. It can be said to be an extremely low-value macroworld. Yet, someone is willing to pay a lot of money to buy it. Which forces was it?”

“Led by Ghost’s Dishastan. Bone clan’s Roopkund Sea and Corpusian’s Hall of Permanence also paid a lot of Godstones,” Xue Tu said.

Zhang Ruochen said, “So it was Dishastan. It seems that they really came for me. Only very few cultivators know about the deal between me and the cultivators of Southern Sword Realm. Who leaked the secret?”

The master of Dishastan was Ghost Master.

Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen thought of someone. A cold look flashed in his eyes. He asked, “Is Lord Bladehell still in Divine Domain of Destiny?”

“Him? He left a long time ago. It’s said that he’s going to Fane of Immortality to break through to Thousand-Koan Realm,” Xue Tu said.

“He dared to betray me. Did he think that he can survive by hiding in Fane of Immortality or breaking through to Thousand-Koan Realm?”

Zhang Ruochen’s killing intent soared.

Zhang Ruochen thought about the matter of Southern Sword Realm. The only person he could think of that who would leak the secret was Lord Bladehell.

Zhou Zhen walked in from outside and handed Zhang Ruochen a post. “Master, a Ghost just sent an invitation to the House of Enchanteurs.”