Volume 1, Chapter 355 – Rankings

The value of the two portions of precious blood now within Shi Lan’s body was enough to make even Human Emperors covet them.

Setting aside the Demon Emperor blood for the moment, the divine blood of an Ancient God King alone contained energy that was simply unimaginable, even mixed with a fragment of a Great Dao law.

What left Shi Lan hesitating was precisely that the energy in these two portions of precious blood was too overwhelming. With Shi Qinghu’s physique, using them might well do more harm than good.

“Big Sister, is there a problem?”

Seeing Shi Lan’s brows remain tightly knit, Shi Qinghu, sitting cross-legged on the floor, could not help but grow uneasy. Shi Lan’s position in his heart had risen higher and higher, almost surpassing Shi Tianlu’s. Now that he saw something unusual in her expression, he naturally grew nervous.

Shi Lan shook her head slightly and said nothing. After pondering for a moment, a sudden flash of inspiration struck her mind. The Innate Spiritual Blood within her own body was undoubtedly also a very powerful form of precious blood, and it possessed an all-embracing capacity like the sea accepting a hundred rivers. Using it to forge a foundation was not impossible.

With that thought, Shi Lan raised her hand and cut open her wrist, drawing out a portion of her own essence blood and immediately beginning the attempt.

“Big Sister, this…”

“Don’t move.”

Shi Lan frowned slightly and pressed Shi Qinghu down as he tried to rise. Pale violet blood and qi surged up, turning into wisps of purple spiritual mist that poured into Shi Qinghu’s body through the nine apertures of his crown.

As her cultivation had risen, the energy contained within her Innate Spiritual Blood had grown countless times stronger than it had been back in Twin Moon City. Helping Shi Qinghu absorb the blood and qi in this way would spare him some suffering.

“Calm your mind and focus your spirit!”

Hearing Shi Lan’s sharp call, Shi Qinghu cast aside all distracting thoughts, circulated the Nine Spirits Foundation-Casting Art, and sank his consciousness into his dantian qi sea. Following the guidance of Shi Lan’s divine sense, he began forging his second-layer foundation.

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The Innate Spiritual Blood within Shi Lan’s body had already fused with part of the characteristics of divine phoenix blood, and it did not conflict with the power inside Shi Qinghu’s body. The process of forging the foundation also went far more smoothly than she had imagined. It was as if, after the experience of the first time, the second came naturally, like water flowing where it should.

Several hours later, a pale violet foundation was already standing within Shi Qinghu’s dantian qi sea. It was a seamless whole, without the slightest flaw. Ancient, unknown totems covered its surface, giving off a desolate, archaic Dao aura.

Shi Lan’s complexion was faintly pale. A martial artist’s essence blood was exceedingly precious, second only to life essence itself. Having lost part of it, even she could not help feeling somewhat drained. Fortunately, she would be able to replenish it soon enough with the help of the Black Domain.

Although the foundation had already been forged, Shi Qinghu had not yet fully digested the energy contained within the Innate Spiritual Blood, and was still circulating his cultivation art.

He had only entered the ninth stage of the Innate Realm not long ago. Originally, he still had quite some distance to go before reaching the Earth Fiend Realm, but with this burst of energy acting as a driving force, that period would be greatly shortened.

Shi Lan did not leave. She sat down on the ground and closed her eyes, beginning to regulate her breathing and internal qi.

In the blink of an eye, two days passed. Shi Tianlu had long since been warned by Shi Lan, so the two of them were not disturbed in the slightest.

“Haa…”

Shi Qinghu exhaled a long breath of turbid air. A stream of qi shot out like a bolt of silk, piercing nearly a foot deep into the bluestone wall. He slowly rose to his feet, his bones crackling like thunderclouds splitting apart, the divine light in his eyes restrained inward, yet still carrying an intimidating force.

Among the Shi family children, only Shi Qinghu resembled Shi Tianlu the most. They seemed almost cast from the same mold.

Shi Lan opened her eyes and sent out her divine sense, checking Shi Qinghu’s meridians and dantian qi sea. Only after confirming that nothing was amiss did she nod slightly.

“How does it feel?”

“At most three months, and I’ll be able to step into the Earth Fiend Realm.”

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Shi Qinghu clenched his hand, but when he looked up and saw the paleness in Shi Lan’s face, the joy that had just risen in his eyes vanished completely. He said with concern,

“Big Sister, your vitality has only just recovered, and yet you spent so much essence blood. What if it damages your foundation…”

“Just focus on your cultivation. I know what I’m doing.”

Shi Lan waved a hand, signaling for Shi Qinghu to leave.

Shi Qinghu said nothing more. He turned and walked straight out the door, heading directly beyond the residence. He intended to search for some great medicine that could replenish a martial artist’s essence blood.

Watching his now much broader back, the corner of Shi Lan’s mouth lifted slightly without her realizing it, and her mood inexplicably improved.

[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained ten million reputation points. Side mission complete. The time-flow adjustment function of the system’s virtual combat space has been unlocked.]

Just as Shi Lan was about to close her eyes and regulate her breathing, the system’s notification sounded in her ear. She froze for a moment, then could not help feeling rather surprised.

How did it happen so quickly?

…

In the southwestern lands of the Central Heaven Domain stood a vast and magnificent complex of palaces and pavilions. From within came the faint echoes of dragons soaring and phoenixes crying, along with the roars of scaled beasts. A grand array that encompassed the stars of the heavens enveloped the entire palace complex. Even from afar, the spectacle was terrifying.

Inside one great hall covered in spirit-gathering formation patterns, a middle-aged man in a dark gold brocade robe patterned with silver lines sat cross-legged. A purple-gold crown rested atop his head, and dense Emperor laws diffused around him. Within several hundred zhang of his body, space warped, rolling rivers of stars flowed, and phantom stars seemed to flicker into being and vanish.

A soft, measured set of footsteps slowly sounded from outside the hall.

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The illusory scene around the middle-aged man rippled once, then gradually dispersed, and the entire hall returned to calm.

An old man of around sixty entered with a bent back and respectfully presented a jade scroll before the middle-aged man.

“King Xuan, this is today’s newest ranking list.”

The old man’s expression was grave, and shock still lingered in his eyes.

“What has changed?”

The middle-aged man slowly opened his eyes. Within them was a boundless sea of stars, vast and immeasurable.

“Please have a look for yourself.”

The old man did not answer, merely nudging the scroll forward.

Recorded within the scroll were precisely the Heavenly Prodigy Record and the Immortal Maiden Ranking, the two famous rankings known throughout Shenzhou, which underwent changes from time to time.

Judging from the old man’s expression, this latest update to the rankings had seen an extraordinary change.

The middle-aged man swept the scroll with his divine sense. In only a few breaths, both rankings had already been absorbed into his mind. His eyes narrowed slightly, and terrifying emotions churned within them.

The old man kept his head respectfully lowered and did not dare speak for a moment. Cold sweat had already soaked his back.

The changes in this round of rankings were simply too great, so astonishing they could even be called sensational.

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Today’s newest rankings no longer covered only the Vast Land of Shenzhou. They encompassed the entire Lingyang Realm, including all three races: human, devil, and demon.

Ranked first was a woman of the devil race, named Di Luocha.

Di Luocha

Bone age: 276

Cultivation: fourth stage of the Heaven-Man Realm

Major achievements: Seventy years ago, in the Lingyun Devil Cavern, while only at the mid Nascent Soul Realm, she fought above her level and slew three Heavenly Demons. Three years ago, on the battlefield between realms, she slew one human Heavenlord and severely wounded a great venerable of the demon race…

These rankings did not merely record this basic information. They even included the approximate appearance of these prodigies.

Portrait after portrait flashed through the middle-aged man’s mind. An instant later, his divine sense locked tightly onto the portrait of a woman.

Shi Lan (Rank 27 on the Prodigy Rankings)

Bone age: 23

Cultivation: Myriad Phenomena Realm (suspected)

Major achievements: …