Zhang Wen slowly opened his eyes, like someone awakening from a long and endless slumber. The air around him was still scorching hot, remnants of the breakthrough's power lingering without dispersing. Clear blue flames drifted lazily around his body, no longer violent as before, yet carrying a hidden terror beneath their calm surface.
He closed his eyes and began examining himself.
From the outside, nothing seemed to have changed. But as his internal power circulated, Zhang Wen could clearly sense that this body was no longer the same. Every meridian had grown thicker, wider, and incomparably stronger, as if expanded dozens of times over. The dantian within was no longer a simple sea of power, but a deep vortex without a bottom, so vast that spiritual energy flowing into it vanished without any visible end.
Ten Phoenix Emperor Pills had pushed him to Saint Level Nine.
For ordinary cultivators, even the second pill would have caused their bodies to explode on the spot. Yet he had consumed nine consecutively without the slightest backlash. The reason lay in his Pure Water Sacred Body, whose structure had been reshaped to better accommodate the power of the Phoenix Emperor Pill.
But the true reason was far simpler.
This pill was never meant to directly break cultivation realms.
It was an emperor-grade restoration pill, created to revive life, repair origins, and reforge the foundation of existence itself.
For those below the Saint realm, it was a treasure capable of pushing cultivation across multiple realms in a single leap. But once one entered the Saint realm, its laws changed completely. That immense power no longer converted directly into cultivation levels, instead seeping into every corner of the body.
His meridians had their limits expanded. Every bone was shattered and reforged repeatedly. Each layer of reconstruction multiplied its strength until even sacred metals could hardly compare. Flesh and blood were tempered simultaneously by phoenix flame and pure water, forming a balance that defied common sense.
The more pills he consumed, the more perfect his body became.
Zhang Wen took a long breath.
He knew he had already reached the peak of the Saint realm. Taking another step forward would no longer be a matter of accumulating power. It would require comprehension.
Yet he raised his hand once more.
Another ten Phoenix Emperor Pills floated out from his spatial ring. Red-gold flames surged violently within each pill, their aura trembling restlessly.
Zhang Wen did not hesitate.
He swallowed the pills one by one, slowly and calmly, controlling their dissolution with absolute precision.
The first pill shattered, restorative power surging violently into his dantian.
The second pill caused his sacred core to tremble.
With the third, the foundation of Saint Level Nine began to crack.
A deafening roar echoed within his body. It was not the sound of bones breaking, but the sound of the cultivation realm seal that imprisoned all Saint-level cultivators beginning to collapse.
A terrifying pressure erupted from him. The ground split apart in widening circles. The clouds in the sky were torn into long rifts as heaven and earth energy began flowing backward toward him in a frenzy.
When the fifth pill dissolved, an invisible gate opened.
Sacred power transformed into the pressure of a ruler. Clear blue flames erupted once more, drifting slowly around his body. Gentle yet scorching, calm yet unstoppable.
The sixth pill.
The seventh.
When the eighth pill was swallowed, boundless life force exploded within his body. His meridians expanded again. Cracking sounds echoed deep into his bones. His body trembled violently as if it were being torn apart from within.
But before pain could even form, 0.1 liters of Heaven-Transcending Water flowed out of the void and entered Zhang Wen's body.
Overwhelming restorative power stacked endlessly upon itself. His blood boiled. His eyes shone with blinding light. Sacred power surged outward like an ocean tide, causing the surrounding water barrier to shake uncontrollably.
The ninth pill followed immediately.
In that instant, thunder roared from the heavens. Dark clouds spiraled across the sky. All the power of heaven and earth was drawn toward a single point. Massive pressure crashed down, shattering the land below into vast fissures.
When the tenth pill fully dissolved within his body, thunder struck once more, fiercer than ever before.
Boom!
Sacred lightning slammed directly into Zhang Wen's water barrier. The collision unleashed colossal shockwaves. The protective formation shattered into countless motes of light, blotting out all vision, only for the flames within his body to incinerate everything in an instant.
In midair, Zhang Wen's body slowly rose.
Completely bare, vast sacred power poured out of him beyond all restraint. The surrounding space twisted violently. The laws of heaven and earth trembled, as if they could no longer tolerate his existence.
When everything finally settled, the thunder faded and the dark clouds dispersed, revealing a clear sky once more.
In the air, Zhang Wen slowly opened his eyes.
With a single breath of pressure, the ground below collapsed inward.
Yet he still could not break through to the Saint King realm.
At this moment, he stood at Half-Step Saint King.
He still lacked true comprehension of the laws of power required to form the foundation for stepping fully into the Saint King realm.
But he did not stop.
He began consolidating his cultivation foundation, immediately immersing himself in understanding the laws of water and fire.
The gate to Saint King was beginning to open.
…..
…..
…..
At the same time, within the Chaos Sacred Land, the power of heaven and earth also began to tremble.
Inside the cultivation hall, Zhang Lin sat cross-legged at the center of a recovery formation. Crimson-gold phoenix flames slowly revolved around his body. The sacred bones that had once been excavated were regenerating piece by piece. Fine cracking sounds echoed rhythmically as sacred power surged outward, causing the spiritual energy within the chamber to quake.
His cultivation leapt from that of an ordinary mortal straight into Nascent Soul Level Nine within a short span of time. Yet he knew very well that most of the medicinal power had not entered his cultivation.
The majority of it had been consumed in reconstructing his sacred bones… and
was absorbed by the pitch-black spatial ring worn on his middle finger.
A ring of unknown origin, of unknown creator, one that had accompanied him since he could remember. His elder brother had always told him to keep it on his person, no matter what.
As he examined the changes within his body, the sound of firm footsteps echoed from ahead.
Zhang Lin raised his head, his expression turning solemn.
A robust young man stood before him, short black hair, sharp eyes, and clad in a golden robe. His aura was powerful and undisguised. At his side stood two women. One had purple hair, the other red. Both possessed beauty like figures drawn from a painting.
Zhang Lin did not rise to greet him. He simply spoke calmly.
"Senior Brother Wang Teng. Do you have some business with me, to enter so abruptly without permission like this?"