God Emperor

The Vajra Snowsea Ape was crushed to the brink of death by the Bagua Seal, but it continued to struggle and wanted to get back up. Its willpower was something to behold.

“I am the Snowsea King. I am not someone to be taken out by the likes of you…”

Boom!! Boom!!

Zhang Ruochen flew down from the sky and stomped heavily on the Vajra Snowsea Ape’s head, pushing it back into the ground.

Following that, Zhang Ruochen pressed his right palm against the center of its eyebrows and blasted a thunderous surge of spiritual power into its head.

The only way Zhang Ruochen could stop the Vajra Snowsea Ape from self-destructing its Sea of Qi was to suppress it with his spiritual powers.

Otherwise, the destructive power of the Nine-step Saint King’s self-destruction would be enough to easily raze the Yunwu Royal City in the distance to the ground.

Duhff!

The Vajra Snowsea Ape fought Zhang Ruochen with its spiritual will, but it ended up for naught.

Zhang Ruochen used his spiritual powers to extract the Vajra Snowsea Ape’s memories to look for information that he was interested in. Then, a steady stream of memory bubbles flooded Zhang Ruochen’s mind.

However, just as he was about to explore some special memories, Zhang Ruochen’s spiritual powers were repelled, and that part of the Vajra Snowsea Ape’s memories was automatically destroyed.

Now, both the Vajra Snowsea Ape’s cultivated skills and Saint techniques were no longer obtainable by Zhang Ruochen.

“A Supreme-Saint existence has locked down parts of the Vajra Snowsea Ape’s memories.”

In the end, Zhang Ruochen’s discoveries were rather limited.

Whoosh!!

Zhang Ruochen directly extracted the Saint Source from the Vajra Snowsea Ape’s Sea of Qi.

A small sword, formed by Saint Path precepts, floated within the Saint Source. It was the Vajra Snowsea Ape’s Saint Precept Artifact.

The ape had a Saint Source that contained a Rank 9 Saint Precept Artifact, which was equivalent to a Nine-step Saint King’s inheritance. Its value was far beyond any ordinary Saint Source and could be sold for sky-high prices.

“Let me have a look.”

Awesome, the Little Taoist rushed over and stared at the small sword inside the Saint Source with its mung bean-like eyes. “This Saint Precept Artifact is made out of more than seven hundred and forty thousand precepts.”

Immediately after, Awesome, the Little Taoist inspected the Vajra Snowsea Ape’s corpse and hypothesized, “This Ape King is probably in the realm of the Lesser Precept World within the Nine-Step Saint King rank.”

Zhang Ruochen nodded and said, “There is indeed a big gap between its cultivation level and the realm of the Greater Precept World.”

A Nine-step Saint King was quite close to becoming a Supreme Saint and was just a step away from being immortal. Yet, that single step was fraught with difficulties, which had blocked countless talented individuals from becoming Supreme Saints.

The Nine-step Saint King rank was divided into the Lesser Precept World and Greater Precept World.

The realm of the Lesser Precept World was the most common among Nine-step Saint Kings, just like the Vajra Snowsea Ape, who was still in that realm even after cultivating for over two thousand years.

Creatures of the Greater Precept World were elites amongst Nine-step Saint Kings, and their strength was far superior to those of the Lesser Precept World. The precepts they possessed exceeded ten million in number and would even flow into their body as well as various meridians.

Supposedly, above the Greater Precept World, there was a realm called the Precept Dominion.

Those of the Precept Dominion were even more powerful and had a taste of the mysteries of Supreme Sainthood.

In short, there was a gulf the size of Heaven between a Nine-step Saint King and a Supreme Saint. Only by crossing that gulf would one obtain a Saint Emperor’s power.

Zhang Ruochen’s face was solemn as he slowly said, “The Fane of Youshen has a Nine-step Saint King with a cultivation level close to the Greater Precept World within Yunwu Commandery.”

Awesome, the Little Taoist’s expression changed drastically as he replied, “Someone on that level is beyond our current abilities. Forget those mortals in Yunwu Commandery, and let us find a place to hide. Once I have broken through to the Nine-step Saint King rank, we will come out again and begin the slaughter.”

Why would Zhang Ruochen not want to break through to the Six-step Saint King rank or even the Seven-step Saint King rank as soon as possible?

But, it was impossible to ask him to forsake the people of Yunwu Commandery.

Moreover, from the Vajra Snowsea Ape’s memories, Zhang Ruochen learned that the cultivators from the Fane of Youshen had somehow found out about the Supreme Saint dragon corpse at the bottom of the Tongming River.

They wanted to dig up the dragon corpse buried at the depths of the river and refine it into a Wyrmlord Abomination.

That dragon corpse was obviously the remains of the Golden Dragon.

Zhang Ruochen owed a debt to the Golden Dragon. If it had not handed Zhang Ruochen the Dragon Pearl and Bodhi Emperor’s sarira, he might not have been able to achieve what he had today.

Although the Golden Dragon’s remains had sunk to the depths of the earth and were extremely difficult to find, there was a legendary Nine-step Saint King in the Fane of Youshen who sought out dragons to refine their corpses. There was a possibility that the person would find and dig up the Golden Dragon’s remains.

“If you want to dig up the Golden Dragon’s remains, you will have to step over my dead body.”

Whether it was out of respect for the Golden Dragon or for self-preservation, Zhang Ruochen had to stop the Fane of Youshen’s cultivators.

Of course, many of the Fane of Youshen’s elites were gathered at the Tongming River. Among them were two Nine-step Saint Kings, so Zhang Ruochen was not going to rush in to fight them. He would need to plan things out first.

The Kunlun Realm had forbidden the cultivators from the various macroworlds in the Celestial Court to kill one another on its battlefield. Therefore, Zhang Ruochen immediately dragged the Vajra Snowsea Ape’s body back to Royal Mountain.

A strange force surrounded Royal Mountain, allowing them to avoid the detection of the Emissaries Vigilant.

The evil spirit that had taken the form of a black skeleton had already gathered the Saint Souls of several slain elites from the Fane of Youshen. It swallowed them whole and stored them within its bones to slowly refine them.

Seeing Zhang Ruochen drag the corpse of a thousand-feet-tall giant ape to the mountain, the black skeleton immediately rushed over and siphoned all of the Vajra Snowsea Ape’s remaining soul into its mouth.

Immediately after, the black skeleton transformed into the Yi Huang Bone Scepter and planted itself atop the mountain before it proceeded to refine the souls.

Boom! Boom!!

The process of refinement was terrifying as lightning came crashing down continuously. Rocks melted into droplets, and vegetation turned into ash amid strong winds. Ordinary Saint King creatures could not even get close.

A moment later, the Saint Devourer, the Mastadon-Devouring Rabbit, and Demon Ape all rushed to Royal Mountain, one after another. Some of them wanted nutrients, while others wanted food.

The moment it saw the Vajra Snowsea Ape’s corpse, however, the Demon Ape suddenly lost interest. The Mastadon-Devouring Rabbit had also been with the Demon Ape for a long time and was not interested in the meat of ape beasts. Hence, the Saint Devourer got her hands on the corpse.

“After I completely assimilated with this great ape, my cultivation level will definitely be able to reach the Seven-step Saint King rank. ”

Saint Devourer planted her roots into the Vajra Snowsea Ape’s corpse and began to absorb it.

Having discovered that there were a large number of sacred herbs and holy springs on Royal Mountain, both the Mastadon-Devouring Rabbit and Demon Ape instantly drooled as they rushed into the forest. They gorged themselves on food and drink.

Zhang Ruochen’s expression was solemn as he thought about how to break through to the Six-step Saint King rank.

He was different from the Mastadon-Devouring Rabbit and Demon Ape, who could increase their cultivation base just by eating.

He needed enlightenment.

The path he had to walk was different from that of the Mastadon-Devouring Rabbit and Demon Ape. Not only did he have to fight invincible foes from the same rank, but he also needed to plan for the long term. He needed to become a Supreme Saint as well as cultivate to be a god against the heavens.

The Mastadon-Devouring Rabbit, Demon Ape, and Saint Devourer would only be able to follow him and get stronger if he reached the Supreme Path.

If he wanted to be their master, naturally, he had to work much, much harder.

“Things are already so tense here in Yunwu Commandery. I do not have time to study the Saint Path Precepts. Sigh, time…”

Zhang Ruochen’s eyes lit up as he thought of the sundial. “If I can find a Godstone, I can activate the sundial.”

He promptly wrote something on a Communication Talisman and sent it away.

The talisman was intended for Luo Xu.

In the Kunlun Realm today, apart from the imperial court, the strongest establishments with the most means available to them were probably the Martial Market Bank and the Black Market.

Both markets possessed significant backgrounds, as well as long histories, and might have Godstones in their inventory.

Luo Xu was one of the Eastern Region Saint Court’s principals, and he had a high status in the Martial Market Bank. Should he step forward, he could probably help Zhang Ruochen find out about the Godstones. Soon, Zhang Ruochen sent out a second message via the Communication Talisman to the Fairy of a Hundred Flowers, Ji Fanxin.

Ji Fanxin was the disciple of the Mandala Goddess, and she held a lofty position within the Qianhui Realm, hence there was a chance for her to get a Godstone there. Most importantly, she had something she wanted from Zhang Ruochen, and it would definitely do her best to help him.

In fact, Zhang Ruochen also wanted to send a message to the Maiden of a Thousand Stars. That heavenly maiden was powerful, and any treasure she pulled out would be one that commanded a heavenly sum.

Obtaining Godstones would probably not be a difficult task for the Maiden of a Thousand Stars.

Yet, Zhang Ruochen held back and did not send her the message.

After all, Zhang Ruochen and the Maiden of a Thousand Stars were not allies but mortal enemies. While the two had yet to act hostile toward each other, a battle for life and death would come sooner or later due to the Canon of Truth.

Not long after, Luo Xu was the first to reply via talisman.

“The Martial Market Bank has Godstones, but even I must spend merit points to buy them. With my current merit points, I can only buy two of them. Where are you now? I will send someone over right away.”

Luo Xu’s own handwriting flowed on the talisman made out of light.

From the beginning to the end, Luo Xu never mentioned anything about Zhang Ruochen paying for the Godstones.

Nevertheless, Zhang Ruochen knew that Godstones came at an extremely steep price. Even if Luo Xu were to exhaust all of his wealth, he could only buy two of them.

Zhang Ruochen blasted out another Communication Talisman to inform Luo Xu of his location.

Whoosh!!

Just then, another Communication Talisman flew over; it was Ji Fanxin’s reply.

“Where are you now? I will come to you.”

The writing on the talisman was beautiful and the message succinct.

Zhang Ruochen hesitated for a moment and thought to himself, “It is not a secret that I am in Yunwu Commandery, and news of today’s incident will probably spread across the Kunlun Realm soon anyway, so it is fine to tell her.”

No longer dwelling on it, Zhang Ruochen sent out another talisman and provided Ji Fanxin with his location.

At last, there was some news about the Godstone, but two Godstones were still too few. If Ji Fanxin could bring another two, that would be great.

“Where did that old man go?”

Zhang Ruochen thought about the old man who had crawled out of the tomb and immediately used his Heavenly Eyes, as well as spiritual powers, to search around. However, even after he scoured most of Royal Mountain, he could not find a trace of that old geezer.

The tiny Awesome walked to Zhang Ruochen’s side and said very seriously, “Royal Mountain is very likely an awakened sacred ground, and perhaps, even an awakened divine ground. I ventured deep into the mountains earlier and found that the dimension inside is very vast as if it was borderless. Plus, there are many heavenly treasures growing all around.

“I dare say that a great sect or an ancient family probably occupied this land in the past. However, something happened later, causing the land to be hidden within the folded dimension.”

The fissure within Royal Mountain was still spewing Saint Qi, as well as heavenly and earthly precepts, making the cultivation environment there increasingly wondrous.

The battle earlier had caused great damage to Royal Mountain, yet in just an hour, all of the destroyed areas had automatically healed as dense vegetation grew once more.