Chapter 1649: Perfect Control
Mu Lingxi swallowed the Heartmoon Saint Fruit and sat on the side to meditate.
Zhang Ruochen handed the wooden jar to the eight-armed spider king and other creatures so they could pick the fruit. Whether they could succeed or not depended on their own abilities.
Zhang Ruochen guarded Mu Lingxi while staring at the water of the saint pool.
Those who dared to borrow the wooden jar were all extraordinary beings. Some of their performances stunned him.
For example, the eight-armed spider king actually spat out colorful string and wrapped around the saint tree. He used the web’s strong pulling strength to fly across the water. His hand shot out like lightning and the next moment, a Heartmoon Saint Fruit was in the jar.
The colorful web had five different types of flames that countered the coldness of the Extreme Yin Pluto Ice.
Other types of spider webs would probably freeze before reaching the saint tree and fall into the water.
“Five-colored Divine Spider race, Five Elements Fire.”
Zhang Ruochen was subtly surprised. This ugly fellow had such a shocking background.
As expected, no one at the God-Naming Platform Conference was ordinary.
The young girl with snowy-pale skin was both anxious and annoyed to see cultivators keep picking the fruit. How could she have thought that two cultivators who didn’t even have invitations would have a container made of divine wood?
A while later, Mu Lingxi refined the Heartmoon Saint Fruit. Her entire body shone with white light and she had a joyful expression. “I have 300 more Rules of Saintly Way. It’s like months of cultivation. Even my physical strength has improved.”
“It’s that amazing?” Zhang Ruochen was happy for her.
For a half-step Saint King, this Heartmoon Saint Fruit was a priceless treasure and could improve their cultivations vastly. It was also beneficial for first and second step Saint Kings.
Of course, the effect wasn’t that great for those above the third step!
After all, even the weakest third step Saint King had 30-40,000 Rules of Saintly Way. Gaining 300 Rules of Saintly Way was nice, but it wasn’t enough for them to risk their lives for.
“You should try to pick a fruit too,” Mu Lingxi said. “You might be able to reach the second step at once.”
Zhang Ruochen nodded. he gazed toward the eight-armed spider king and the others. Some cultivators were sitting cross-legged on the ground, refining the fruit that they’d just picked.
Others had tried countless times and all failed. They had sad and disappointed expressions. They looked toward those who were refining the fruit with envy.
Sometimes, you would brush shoulders with a great opportunity just because you were a bit too weak.
Eleven beings in total borrowed the wooden jar from Zhang Ruochen, but only seven succeeded.
A first step Saint King with a snake head returned the jar to Zhang Ruochen, sighing. “Thank you for your help, but unfortunately, I’m not strong enough. I couldn’t pick the Heartmoon Saint Fruit of my dreams.”
“I’ll return the saint stones to you.”
Zhang Ruochen accepted the wooden jar with one hand while he took out the storage bag with his other.
The snake-headed being quickly waved his hand. “I used those saint stones to rent the wooden jar. Whether I succeeded or not, I should not take the saint stones back.”
He wasn’t someone without a vision. He knew that there were many saint fruits in the God-Naming Platform that needed saint wood in order to collect them.
Thus, he had to maintain a good relationship with Zhang Ruochen. He couldn’t cut off his path just for these small benefits.
“Okay.”
Zhang Ruochen didn’t push further. He put the saint stones away and picked up the wooden jar, walking toward the saint pool.
The snake-headed being and other cultivators all looked at Zhang Ruochen’s back. They all thought, Is he finally going to pick the Heartmoon Saint Fruit?
Earlier, they could tell that this human wasn’t ordinary.
Now, he was about to really pick the fruit, so they naturally had to observe him. Perhaps, they would be able to see just how skilled he was.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t want to attract too much attention, so he didn’t use spatial power. Instead, he took out a Ten-thousand-pattern Saint Weapon whip and clutched it. He prepared to wrap the whip around the trunk.
It was similar to what the eight-armed spider king had done.
Seeing his intention, the snake-headed figure warned, “Sir, you must not.”
“Why not?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“The Extreme Yin Pluto Ice’s Qi can freeze Holy Qi. As soon as the whip flies out, it’ll freeze. Only the First Yao power can fend off the cold, but it’s too aggressive. When it touches the tree, it’ll probably destroy the tree and all the fruits.”
“That makes sense.”
In the distance, that young girl scoffed, looking at Zhang Ruochen as if he was stupid.
Zhang Ruochen ignored her. He thought carefully and tied the wooden jar to the end of the whip.
Sizzle, sizzle.
He added Holy Qi into the whip. It started flying like a wriggling snake and brought the wooden jar quickly toward a fruit on the white tree.
All the beings there shook their heads, thinking that Zhang Ruochen would fail.
They’d already done similar things. The whip would probably freeze before getting halfway to the center. He could only force aside the icy Qi with the First Yao power.
But that power was extremely violent and difficult to control. How could he do something as detailed as picking fruit?
When the whip was a dozen feet away, it started slowing down. The Holy Qi on the whip froze, turning into white frost. It was about to fall into the water.
Whoosh!
Dark gold power emerged on the whip. The First Yao power was unleashed, forcing aside all cold Qi.
However, that power was restricted to the whip. It flowed down it, seeming very obedient, and didn’t spread out.
“How is that possible? How can he control the First Yao power so easily?” The girl bit her red lip with a face of disbelief.
The other beings all exchanged glances, feeling extreme shock.
Usually, only a fourth step Saint King and above could control the First Yao perfectly. However, this human was only a first step Saint King. How could he do it?
“Could he be hiding his cultivation?”
“Not necessarily. I heard that some crazily talented figures can control the First Yao perfectly in the first or second step.”
“Anyway, the more perfect you can control your power, the stronger you are.”
…
While everyone was discussing him, Zhang Ruochen had already picked a Heartmoon Saint Fruit and swallowed it quickly.
It melted as soon as it entered his mouth and poured into his stomach like an icy spring. A great number of Rules of Saintly Way were released.
Zhang Ruochen quickly used a technique to move the Rules of Saintly Way through his meridians and into the Heaven Pass River in his Sea of Qi, combining them with his Rules of Saintly Way.
Moments later, he had 300 more Rules of Saintly Way in him. The total reached 4,500 rules.
The Heaven Pass River made up of rules suddenly flowed faster. However, the state wasn’t steady. It was sometimes fast and sometimes slow and completely erratic.
This should be a sign of a breakthrough. If I have another Heartmoon Saint Fruit, I should be able to make the Heaven Pass River flow even faster and more steadily. Will I become a second step Saint King soon?
Zhang Ruochen grew excited. He hurriedly hurled his whip out again. It cut a beautiful arc over the water and flew toward the white tree in the center of the pool. He wanted to get a second Heartmoon Saint Fruit.
Suddenly, the whip trembled.
“Oh no.”
Even with the First Yao, it was difficult to fend off the icy Qi coming from all over. The flexible whip gradually stiffened. An invisible force also weighed upon the whip and wooden jar, making it much harder for Zhang Ruochen to control it.
The other people didn’t find this out of the ordinary.
The second fruit obviously wasn’t easy to pick. It was impossible no matter how great your control was, unless you had perfect control of the Second Yao power.
However, it was impossible for a first step Saint King to perfectly control the Second Yao. Plus, the human’s whip was only a First Yao weapon.
Just as everyone was sure that Zhang Ruochen would fail, the sinking whip suddenly floated up and turned agile again.
The snake-headed being cried out, “Spiritual Power! He added Spiritual Power to the whip!”
“His Spiritual Power must be at least level 55 and his control of it is incredible too. Look, the Spiritual Power has turned into thin strands and wrapped around the whip, becoming one with the First Yao power.”
The human’s precise control impressed all of the extraordinary beings there.
In order to pick the second fruit, not only did Zhang Ruochen activate Holy Qi and Spiritual Power, he also released his blazing Masculine Yang Qi. He added it to the whip to fend off the coldness.
Of course, it was fortunate he had experience from crossing the Ocean of Truth that he could utilize the power so precisely, making them work and complement each other.
Moments later, he picked the second fruit.
Zhang Ruochen was finally able to breathe. He realized he was sweating, but he felt happy inside.
Just as he was about to eat the second fruit, the snake-headed being, eight-armed spider king and the others surrounded him. A girl with long white hair and pointed ears hurriedly said, “Lord, it’s a complete waste to eat the second fruit. How about you sell it to me? I can give you a satisfactory price.”
“Why is it a waste?” Zhang Ruochen was confused.
The eight-armed spider king chuckled. “You might not know that even though the fruits of the God-Naming Platform are miraculous, only the first one is effective. Eating a second one is like drinking water. It’s useless.”
The snake-headed being quickly said, “There have been cultivators who ate two of the same fruit to quickly improve, but they regretted it greatly! Lord, how about you sell it to me? I can pay 500,000 saint stones.”
“I offer 800,000,” the girl with pointed ears said.
“I offer one million.”
…
Those who’d failed or didn’t dare to pick the fruit were all envious of Zhang Ruochen’s Heartmoon Saint Fruit, so the price kept increasing.
Even the girl with pale skin was tempted. But earlier, she’d mocked Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi many times, so she naturally was too embarrassed to buy the fruit from them.
“Why is my senior brother still not here with the weapon?” She was getting anxious.