“Here you go. This War Map is for you. Inject Genuine Qi into the scroll and you will be able to summon Leopard-headed Blood Bats. Of course, as the Spiritual Blood in the scroll is gradually used up, the power of the War Map will eventually diminish until it returns to an ordinary scroll.”
Luo Shuihan rolled up the scroll and handed it to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen stretched out both hands and received the scroll graciously. “Thank you, Senior sister apprentice Luo.”
Luo Shuihan nodded. She stood up from her seat and walked to a spacious inner room.
Carrying the War Map, Zhang Ruochen followed behind her.
Luo Shuihan sat on an ice chair in front of an ice table where a small and delicate Ice Cold Jade Cup had been placed.
She took out another Ice Cold Jade Cup and placed it on the opposite side.
“Have a seat! You’re the first male to enter Heaven No.1, how about having a drink with me?” she asked.
“It would be my pleasure.”
Zhang Ruochen walked over and sat down steadily in front of her.
When other warriors saw Luo Shuihan, they were all flustered and unable to look her in the eye. But Zhang Ruochen appeared to be very relaxed. He did not seem nervous at all.
She nodded. She waved her sleeves and summoned a jade flask that had been sitting on a shelf half a meter away. Controlled by her Genuine Qi, it landed in her hand.
“PHHF!”
Her movements were very elegant. She raised her arm slightly, and the jade flask tilted, pouring out a cup of Half-Saint’s Essence which she handed to Zhang Ruochen. The glass was filled with 10 drops of Half-Saint’s Essence.
Afterwards, she poured herself a glass of about 10 drops as well.
She placed the flask on the table and lifted her cup with two slender fingers. She finished drinking her 10 drops in one go.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the liquid in his glass. It was indeed 10 drops of Half-Saint’s Essence! If he purchased it on the Black Market, it would cost him 4,000,000 silver coins.
It was difficult for other warriors to get even one drop. Yet, Luo Shuihan had a whole flask and had invited him to join her.
At Zhang Ruochen’s speed of refinement, it would take him at least two days and nights to refine one drop of the Essence. If he drank all 10 drops at once, he would need 20 days to refine it.
The Intermediate Relic Exploration exam was to take place in 10 days. How would he have enough time to refine it?
The Saint Power of the Half-Saint’s Essence was very powerful. If other warriors at the Medium State of the Black Realm drank 10 drops of the Essence at once, it would be no different from drinking poison. The warriors’ body would explode in an instant from the amount of Saint Power it contained.
Luo Shuihan had given him a full cup of Half-Saint’s Essence in order to test him.
If he was either unable to withstand the effects of the Half-Saint’s Essence or could not refine all of it in 10 days, he had no right to drink it.
If that was the case, she would never invite Zhang Ruochen to drink Half-Saint’s Essence again in the future.
Luo Shuihan drank her cup of Half-Saint’s Essence and glanced at Zhang Ruochen. She put her cup back on the table and asked, “Junior fellow apprentice, don’t you want to drink it?”
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath and raised the cup. He smiled and said, “A cup of Half-Saint’s Essence! Since you have shown such generosity, I’m not going to refuse it!”
He threw back his head and drank it all.
After Zhang Ruochen drank its entire contents, he immediately placed the cup back on the table and sat cross-legged on the ground, preparing to refine the potency of the Half-Saint’s Essence.
Watching Zhang Ruochen drink the entire cup, Luo Shuihan’s eyes lit up a little, revealing a trace of admiration.
She knew Zhang Ruochen was at the Medium State of the Black Realm. There was no way for him to refine the entire cup of Essence. It was very likely that it would burst his Meridians and kill him.
Since Zhang Ruochen had the nerve to drink it, she was not going to let him die. She had a special method that would help him compress the potency of the Essence.
Of course, she would not lend a hand until Zhang Ruochen could no longer withstand it.
However, Luo Shuihan had been waiting for entire two hours and yet, Zhang Ruochen showed no signs of his Meridians breaking. On the contrary, Zhang Ruochen’s aura was becoming stronger as his body became wreathed and lifted by threads of Spiritual Blood.
“BOOM!”
The Spiritual Blood beneath Zhang Ruochen’s body converged to form a circular Blood Wave with a nine-meter diameter. It covered most of the room and caused the walls to shake.
If it weren’t for the fact that the room was covered with the Inscriptions of Array, the force of the Blood Wave would have caused the entire room to collapse.
Luo Shuihan revealed a trace of a smile. “Blood Qi Convergence! I can’t believe he is seizing this opportunity to break through to the Final State!”
As Zhang Ruochen had used the power of the Half-Saint’s Essence to break through his previous realm, given his physical quality, he should also be able to refine the 10 drops of Half-Saint’s Essence and wouldn’t need her help.
“His Blood Wave has a diameter of nine meters! That means he has coalesced a Divine-stage Blood Wave.” Luo Shuihan stared at the Blood Wave beneath Zhang Ruochen in absolute shock.
When warriors reached the Final State of the Black Realm, they were able to use their Spiritual Blood to form Battle Formations.
A Blood Wave with a three-meter diameter was classified as a Low-class Blood Wave.
A Blood Wave with a five-meter diameter was a Medium-class Blood Wave.
At seven meters it was a High-class Blood Wave.
And nine meters was known as a Divine-stage Blood Wave.
Normally, most warriors who had reached the Final State of the Black Realm could only converge a Low-class Blood Wave.
Out of 10 warriors, probably only one, a prodigy, could converge a Medium-class Blood Wave.
Once you had formed a Medium-class Blood Wave, then you had a large chance of becoming a Warrior of Division Profound after reaching the Completion of the Black Realm.
As for High-class Blood Waves, it was even rarer. If a warrior could converge a High-class Blood wave, they were almost guaranteed to be in the top 10 of the Profound Board.
The Divine-stage Blood Wave was the most powerful Blood Wave. If a warrior could converge a Divine-stage Blood Wave, it indicated that they had a chance of becoming a Saint.
As Zhang Ruochen had condensed a nine-meter Divine-stage Blood Wave, he wouldn’t even have to attack to defeat warriors in the same Realm. Rather, by activating the Blood Wave he could compress warriors with Lower class Blood Waves and Medium-class Blood Wave.
Before Zhang Ruochen drank the cup of Half-Saint’s Essence, he’d known clearly that he had to break through to the Final State of the Black Realm in order to have a chance to refine the entire 10 drops of Essence within 10 days.
By breaking through to the Final State of the Black Realm, Zhang Ruochen was able to refine the Half-Saint’s Essence much faster than before. His 36 Meridians were greedily refining the Saint Power of the Essence.
Zhang Ruochen slowly rotated as he hovered in his Blood Wave.
With each turn he made, the Genuine Qi in his Meridians made a large cirde of vital energy.
After almost 10 days, Zhang Ruochen finished refining the 10 drops of Half-Saint’s Essence and awoke from his Practice. It was the day before the Intermediate Relic Exploration.
The nine-meter wide Blood Wave dissolved into threads of Spiritual Blood and returned to his body.
Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes and stared at Luo Shuihan who was sitting opposite him. “Senior sister apprentice, how long have I been Practicing?”
“10 days and nine nights.” Luo Shuihan replied.
Zhang Ruochen felt extremely hungry. If he hadn’t absorbed the 10 drops of Essence, he would have probably starved to death during his Practice.
He took out a Second-Class Blood Pill and swallowed it. The feeling of intense hunger gradually disappeared and was replaced with a feeling of fullness and power.
Every muscle in his body was full of energy. The Spiritual Blood in his Blood Meridian was particularly dense, like rivers running through his body.
If a human body was to be compared to the earth, then the bones were seen as stones, the skin was mud, the bloodstreams were rivers, the Genuine Qi was the air, and the Qi Lake in the glabella was the wide blue sky.
Zhang Ruochen could clearly feel that his power had grown by leaps and bounds. The fastest speed he would be able to reach should be about 68 meters per second. His speed wasn’t far from the superiors who ranked in the top 100 of the Profound Board.
“Thanks again for the Half-Saint’s Essence.” Zhang Ruochen stretched and lifted his hands. He said, “I need to return and prepare for tomorrow’s Intermediate Relic Exploration exam. Senior sister apprentice Luo, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Zhang Ruochen put away the War Map and turned to leave. Suddenly, he stopped and turned around. He smiled awkwardly and said, “I’ve received your gift but I almost forget I have a gift for you as well.”
He took out a white jade Space bracelet and handed it to Luo Shuihan.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen take out the bracelet, Luo Shuihan was surprised. She looked confused and asked, “Ruochen, what do you mean?”
“This is a Genuine Martial Arms piece. Once you inject your Genuine Qi into the bracelet and trigger the Inscriptions, you will understand!” Zhang Ruochen smiled.
After saying that, he took the War Map and left Heaven No.1.
After he had left, Luo Shuihan picked up the jade bracelet and injected her Genuine Qi into it. The eight Inscriptions of Space lit up and created an independent internal space.
Luo Shuihan’s lips curved slightly when she discovered the bracelet’s secret. Then, she slipped it onto her wrist.
Zhang Ruochen had only just walked out of Heaven No.1 when he was stopped by Huang Yanchen and Duanmu Xingling.
Huang Yanchen did not look friendly. Standing two meters in front of Zhang Ruochen, she smiled coldly, looking much like the female devil and asked, “You went to see senior sister apprentice Luo?”
Zhang Ruochen replied, “That’s my business. I don’t think you have a right to control who I visit.”
“I don’t care who you see!”
Huang Yanchen tilted up her chin, revealing a narrow white neck. She looked cold and haughty. “Zhang Ruochen, I wish to purchase a Space Treasure. Name a price!”
Zhang Ruochen fell into thought. Then he took out the Spatial Ring and handed it to Huang Yanchen. “No need, here you go. Take it.”
After handing the Spatial Ring to Huang Yanchen, he left Dragon Martial Temple and headed to Merit Tower. He wanted to use his merits to exchange for some items in preparation for entering the middle-level heritage.
Huang Yanchen’s snow white fingers closed over the exquisite Spatial Ring and paused momentarily. She stared in the direction Zhang Ruochen had left and felt a sense of loss.
“He… gave me a ring. What does this mean?” Huang Yanchen was very out of sorts.
Although it was a Spatial Ring and was considered a rare treasure, Huang Yanchen still felt that Zhang Ruochen might have had some other meaning.
Duanmu Xingling stared at the Space ring in Huang Yanchen’s hand and gently licked her lips. “Sister Chen, did he give you a ring when you two got engaged?”
Huang Yanchen shook her head.
Duanmu Xingling said, “Perhaps this is how he is making up for it!”
“Perhaps!”
Huang Yanchen squeezed the Spatial Ring tightly. Suddenly, she lifted her head and looked towards the door of Heaven No.1. Lifting her eyebrows, she asked, “Xingling, guess why Zhang Ruochen went to see senior sister disciple Luo?”
Duanmu Xingling laughed out loud and said, “Are you jealous? Sister Chen, don’t you fall for him!”
“How is that possible?” Huang Yanchen’s eyes went cold, glaring at Duanmu Xingling.
It was undeniable that when Huang Yanchen saw Zhang Ruochen walking out of Heaven No.1 earlier, she had felt unhappy and a strong sense of danger had appeared.
“Why would I have these types of feelings?”