Chapter 15

Zhang Ruochen brought the "Chen Yuan Ancient Sword" and the "Flash Soul Sword" to the front courtyard of the Qingxuan Pavilion, paid 31,000 silver coins, and then returned to the palace with the two battle swords.

In the Ziyi side hall, the courtyard was covered with snow.

Zhang Ruochen held a four-foot-long broken sword in his hands, feeling a strange emotion in his heart.

Eight hundred years had passed, the world had changed, and the landscape had transformed. Things were no longer the same, and people were different. He never thought that even the once incredibly sharp Chen Yuan Ancient Sword had broken!

Even the broken Chen Yuan Ancient Sword was very heavy. If Zhang Ruochen had not reached the late stage of the Yellow Extreme Realm, he might not have been able to lift it.

"The inscription patterns in the Chen Yuan Ancient Sword are indeed all broken. Now, it is only slightly sharper than other battle swords. To reconnect the inscription patterns in the sword body and restore the power of the Chen Yuan Ancient Sword, at least a fifth-grade weapon refiner is needed. Does Yunwu County have a fifth-grade weapon refiner?"

Zhang Ruochen put away the Chen Yuan Ancient Sword.

Even if the sword had become a piece of scrap iron, he had to keep it with him. It could constantly remind him to practice diligently. Only by becoming strong enough could he seek revenge on Empress Chiryo.

Zhang Ruochen then took out the fourth-grade True Wu treasure, the "Flash Soul Sword," gripped the hilt, and drew the sword, revealing a sapphire-blue, crystal-clear sword body.

Zhang Ruochen mobilized the true qi in his body, channeled it through his palm, and infused it into the Flash Soul Sword.

The first inscription pattern in the Flash Soul Sword was activated by the true qi and came back to life.

It was a strength-type inscription pattern! Once activated by true qi, it could increase the weight of the Flash Soul Sword by 100 pounds.

The original weight of the Flash Soul Sword was only 53 pounds. With the first strength-type inscription pattern activated, the weight of the sword body increased to 153 pounds.

The weight increased dramatically.

Zhang Ruochen's arm trembled slightly, and he had to steady his grip.

Clang!

He thrust the sword forward.

However, the movement of the sword was not precise and was quite difficult to control.

With Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, he could indeed unleash the strength of a wild bull with the Dragon Elephant Prajna Palm. He could even lift a 300-pound stone disc and throw it ten meters away.

However, that was an instantaneous burst of strength!

If it were a 300-pound battle sword, with Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, it would not be easy to lift the sword, let alone perform intricate sword techniques.

With Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, wielding a 153-pound sword was already at the limit of what he could bear.

"Thrust!"

"Slash!"

...

After a whole afternoon of practice, Zhang Ruochen had only initially adapted to the weight of the Flash Soul Sword.

Of course, it was just an initial adaptation!

Those sword experts could easily use their swords to kill mosquitoes within three yards, controlling the sword with incredible precision, reaching the realm of "sword follows the mind."

Zhang Ruochen was far from that level. Compared to those sword experts, he still seemed clumsy. The sword was too heavy!

"The Flash Soul Sword has four strength-type inscription patterns. Just activating the first strength-type inscription pattern makes the sword weigh 153 pounds. If the second inscription pattern is activated, how heavy will the Flash Soul Sword become?"

Zhang Ruochen mobilized the true qi in his body and continued to infuse it into the second strength-type inscription pattern.

However, the true qi in his body was becoming increasingly thin, and the second strength-type inscription pattern showed no signs of change, not even a hint of revival.

Zhang Ruochen had to give up.

"With the amount of true qi in my body, I cannot activate the second inscription pattern. My cultivation is still not strong enough!"

Zhang Ruochen withdrew the true qi from the sword body, and the Flash Soul Sword immediately returned to its original weight of 53 pounds. After adapting to the 153-pound weight, the 53-pound Flash Soul Sword felt light and airy to Zhang Ruochen.

Then, Zhang Ruochen infused true qi into the Flash Soul Sword and activated an ice-type inscription pattern.

The Flash Soul Sword immediately emitted a bone-chilling cold, making Zhang Ruochen's fingers feel numb.

"Whoosh!"

Zhang Ruochen swung the sword, and immediately, tiny, crystal-clear snowflakes appeared on the sword's edge. These were tiny water droplets in the air that had been frozen by the sword's aura.

"Electric-type inscription pattern!"

"Light-type inscription pattern!"

Zhang Ruochen then tried to activate an electric-type inscription pattern and a light-type inscription pattern.

After the electric-type inscription pattern was activated, fine electric threads immediately appeared on the surface of the sword. When the sword was thrust out, it was like a bolt of lightning shooting through the air, producing a series of "snap" sounds.

After the light-type inscription pattern was activated, the Flash Soul Sword was immediately enveloped in a layer of white light mist, becoming incredibly sharp. As the white light flashed, a stone immediately split open.

With the amount of true qi in Zhang Ruochen's body, he could only support one inscription pattern. Using the strength-type inscription pattern meant he could not use the other three types of inscription patterns.

To activate two inscription patterns simultaneously, he needed to practice diligently and improve his cultivation.

"These 30,000 silver coins were well spent!"

Zhang Ruochen sheathed the Flash Soul Sword.

"The Flash Soul Sword has a total of fourteen inscription patterns. If all fourteen inscription patterns are activated, the full power of the fourth-grade True Wu treasure will be unleashed. I must accelerate my practice!"

Entering the inner space of the Time Crystal, Zhang Ruochen immediately took a Qi Gathering Pill and began to practice.

"Boom!"

The Qi Gathering Pill exploded in his body, transforming into a large cloud of pill energy.

Six meridians immediately began to transport the pill energy, converting it into true qi and storing it in the qi pool.

It took Zhang Ruochen half a day to absorb and refine all the pill energy in his body.

Only 50% of the pill energy was absorbed and converted into true qi.

The other 50% of the pill energy escaped through his pores, completely wasted!

If it were another martial artist, they would definitely be heartbroken. After all, wasting 50% of the pill energy was equivalent to wasting 500 silver coins.

However, Zhang Ruochen did not feel it was a waste. He only felt that the amount of true qi in his body had increased significantly. If he practiced gradually, it would take more than ten days to achieve the current effect.

Taking the Qi Gathering Pill only took half a day.

What were a mere 1,000 silver coins?

If the silver coins were gone, they could be earned again.

If time was wasted, it could not be earned back.

In the following days, Zhang Ruochen spent most of his time practicing in the Time Crystal.

He used "Qi Gathering Pills" to increase the amount of true qi in his body and "Body Refining Powder" to refine his body.

In addition, he also spent a lot of time practicing the Dragon Elephant Prajna Palm and the Heavenly Heart Sword Technique.

In the first month of practicing in the Time Crystal, the amount of true qi in Zhang Ruochen's qi pool increased fivefold.

In the second month of practicing in the Time Crystal, Zhang Ruochen could unleash the strength of two bulls.

In the third month of practicing in the Time Crystal, the amount of true qi in Zhang Ruochen's qi pool reached ten times what it was when he had just broken through to the late stage of the Yellow Extreme Realm. The true qi in his qi pool was fully refined, reaching the limit of the late stage of the Yellow Extreme Realm.

At this point, Zhang Ruochen could have started to open new meridians and advance to the Lesser Apex of the Yellow Extreme Realm.

However, Zhang Ruochen did not do so. Instead, he suppressed his cultivation and continued to use "Body Refining Powder" to refine his body.

"With my current constitution, to advance to the Lesser Apex of the Yellow Extreme Realm, I need to open four more meridians. That means I will have a total of ten meridians in my body at the Lesser Apex of the Yellow Extreme Realm."

It should be noted that martial artists practicing lower-grade human-level cultivation methods could only open seven meridians in their bodies, even if they reached the Great Perfection of the Yellow Extreme Realm, the number of meridians in their bodies would still be seven.

Being able to open ten meridians at the Lesser Apex of the Yellow Extreme Realm was definitely considered a top genius.

However, Zhang Ruochen felt it was still far from enough.

In his previous life, at the Lesser Apex of the Yellow Extreme Realm, he had opened a total of thirteen meridians.

"Although my current constitution cannot compare to my previous life, I firmly believe that as long as I diligently refine my body, opening eleven meridians at the Lesser Apex of the Yellow Extreme Realm is not a difficult task."

Zhang Ruochen's greatest advantage in this life was having the Time Crystal, which provided three times the practice time compared to others. With two extra times the practice time, he naturally had to make good use of it, striving to improve himself and even surpass his previous life.

In the fourth month of practicing in the Time Crystal, Zhang Ruochen's constitution underwent a dramatic change. When he performed the Dragon Elephant Prajna Fist, he could unleash the strength of three bulls.

In the sixth month of practicing in the Time Crystal, Zhang Ruochen's strength increased again, and he could unleash the strength of four bulls.

Reaching this level, Zhang Ruochen finally felt that his constitution had reached a bottleneck, the limit of his physical body. It was extremely difficult to increase his strength even a little bit more.

Even if he practiced for another year, he could not reach the strength of five bulls.

Practicing for half a year in the Time Crystal was equivalent to two months in the outside world.

"Being able to cultivate the strength of one bull at the late stage of the Yellow Extreme Realm makes one a mid-to-high-level strong person. Only martial artists at the Lesser Apex of the Yellow Extreme Realm can cultivate the strength of four bulls."

"I am still at the late stage of the Yellow Extreme Realm, but I have already cultivated the strength of four bulls, enough to contend with ordinary martial artists at the Lesser Apex of the Yellow Extreme Realm. If I break through to the Lesser Apex of the Yellow Extreme Realm, how powerful will my strength be?"

"Now, my body's strength has reached the limit of this stage. I can start to advance to the Lesser Apex of the Yellow Extreme Realm! I wonder how many meridians I can open?"

To be prepared, Zhang Ruochen took out six small jade bottles containing bone-washing liquid and placed them neatly in front of him.

"Let's do it! The more meridians opened at the same cultivation level, the stronger the constitution and combat power. Let's go all out!"

Zhang Ruochen grabbed the first small jade bottle, swallowed the bone-washing liquid, and immediately began to open the seventh meridian.