Not expecting such a request, Zhang Xuan was taken aback for a moment before hurriedly shaking his head. “My apologies, but I’m too used to wandering the lands. I’m afraid that I don’t have the capability to become the head of the Sevenstar Pavilion.”
It was not that he was uninterested in becoming the pavilion master—the Sevenstar Pavilion was known to be the richest organization on Forsaken Continent after all! But he was already the head of the Myriad Beasts Hall, and it would be inappropriate for him to take on another leadership position in the Sevenstar Pavilion.
“That definitely isn’t the case. If you are lacking in capability, then I should be utterly ashamed of myself,” Pavilion Master Kui Xiao replied bitterly.
A strong leader was integral to a powerful organization. Considering how the young man was able to tame the Blackback Tortoise easily, there was really no candidate more suitable than him.
“Elder Liu, I humbly beseech you to lead our Sevenstar Pavilion.” Elder Feng clasped his fist as well.
“This…” Zhang Xuan was conflicted.
First the Myriad Beasts Hall, and now, even the Sevenstar Pavilion was acting in such a manner.
Why was it so difficult for him to be an ordinary elder?
Was it his fault that he was so outstanding?
Thinking about it, the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion was still the best of all. He could just remain an innocent honorary elder, unburdened by the weight of an entire sect.
Noting Zhang Xuan’s hesitation, Pavilion Master Kui Xiao pressed on. “There’s a limit to the lifespan of Semi-Divinity realm cultivators, so I won’t be able to protect the Sevenstar Pavilion for too long. However, Semi-Divinity realm beasts are known for their longevity. This is especially so for the Blackback Tortoise, which is rumored to be able to live for several thousand years. If you become the sect leader and leave the Blackback Tortoise to guard our sect, we won’t have to worry about our security for the next several thousand years!”
Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan nodded.
The Azure was nothing more than a pit stop for him. It was only a matter of time before he approached the Hall of Gods in search of Luo Ruoxin. In the first place, he was already planning to leave the Blackback Tortoise behind to guard the Sevenstar Pavilion.
After all, he was indebted to the Sevenstar Pavilion for all their help.
With such thoughts in mind, Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment before nodding. “I don’t mind becoming the sect leader, but I’m too used to living a carefree life. I won’t be getting too involved with the affairs of the Sevenstar Pavilion.”
“There isn’t a problem with that. The role of the sect leader is just to serve as a strong front to deter aggressors. You can leave the affairs of the sect to the First Elder.” Pavilion Master Kui Xiao’s eyes lit up after hearing Zhang Xuan’s agreement, and he laughed heartily in response.
Elder Feng brought out the boat once more, and the three of them quickly got on it and headed back to Starchaser Island.
…
Some time later, Zhang Xuan arrived back at his accommodation in the Sevenstar Pavilion’s branch. He brought the Blackback Tortoise out from his tamed beast sack and had it let out some of its blood for him. Then, he sat down cross-legged on the floor and absorbed a droplet of the Blackback Tortoise’s blood into his body.
Tzzzzzzzzz!
As soon as the droplet of blood entered his body, Zhang Xuan could feel all his muscles coming to life. A terrifying surge of energy gushed through his meridians and gathered in his dantian.
With a reddened face, he hurriedly drove his zhenqi to assimilate the energy.
“This won’t work. Without a High Immortal realm cultivation technique, it won’t matter no matter how much energy I absorb.”
He had thought that even without a cultivation technique, he would still be able to force a breakthrough by gathering sufficient energy via the energy in the blood of the Semi-Divinity realm beast. However, that was easier said than done.
It was likely that he would first explode into bits before he could even raise his cultivation!
“Since I’m unable to raise my cultivation, I should nourish my body.”
Knowing that it was futile to raise his zhenqi cultivation in such a manner, he could only turn his attention to something else.
The Blackback Tortoise was known for its defense, and its blood essence and extremely useful in nourishing one’s body. Controlling the energy from the blood droplet through his meridians, his physical body swiftly grew stronger.
Two hours later, the might of his physical body could already rival that of Heavenly High Immortals!
Heaving a sigh of relief, Zhang Xuan took out the Semi-Divinity metal chain from his storage ring next.
With the threat of the little yellow chick and him pointing out the flaws reflected in the Library of Heaven’s Path, it did not take long before Zhang Xuan managed to tame it as well.
“You are called Little Tortoise, and you are called Metal Chain.” Zhang Xuan formally announced the names of the two Semi-Divinities.
“…” A certain Little Tortoise.
“…” A certain Metal Chain.
After all that was done, Zhang Xuan let the Serpentine Dragon and the others out.
“This is the blood essence of a Semi-Divinity realm beast. Each of you will have ten droplets each. Whether you will be able to make a breakthrough or not is up to your capability,” Zhang Xuan said as he flicked the blood essence of the Blackback Tortoise over to them.
Those few beasts had all reached the Heavenly High Immortal realm, and their bloodlines were extremely powerful. If they consumed the blood essence of a Semi-Divinity realm beast, they might be able to take another step forward.
It would be best if they could make a breakthrough, but otherwise, there was no huge loss.
The Serpentine Dragon, Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix, and the others quickly bowed their heads in gratitude as they swallowed the blood essences.
Four hours later, they managed to advance their cultivation significantly, but they were still unable to overcome the final bottleneck limiting them.
It seemed like it was not that easy to reach the Semi-Divinity realm after all, or else there would not have been so few of such experts in the world. Seeing that they had reached their limits, Zhang Xuan returned them to the tamed beast sack before taking the Blackback Tortoise out once more.
“I want you to recount to me how you were able to achieve a breakthrough to the Semi-Divinity realm and where you managed to do it,” Zhang Xuan instructed.
This was the primary reason he had chosen to tame the Blackback Tortoise instead of killing it. Ever since he learned the details surrounding the Godblood Rock, he had been wondering if it had anything to do with Luo Ruoxin.
“I achieved a breakthrough over in the Vacant Sea,” the Blackback Tortoise revealed.
“Vacant Sea?”
“Un. It’s roughly two million li away from here. It’s an empty region of the ocean. There are no islands or humans in the area, and that’s where it got its name from,” the Blackback Tortoise explained.
“It’s far away…” Zhang Xuan frowned. “How did you manage to achieve a breakthrough then? Based on what I know, only those have challenged the Azure Bridge are able to make a breakthrough to the Semi-Divinity realm.”
“It’s true that it’s impossible for those who haven’t challenged the Azure Bridge to reach the Semi-Divinity realm, but two months ago, I unintentionally swallowed a droplet of fresh blood, and before I knew it, I’d already reached the Semi-Divinity realm.”
“A droplet of fresh blood?” Zhang Xuan clenched his fists tightly together.
“A Semi-Divinity realm expert was conducting some kind of ritual above the Vacant Sea, and shortly after, a crack appeared in the sky, and a figure fell down. That figure seemed to be injured, and fresh blood was dripping from her body onto the surface of the sea. I and a few other Heavenly High Immortal realm beasts drank her blood and successfully reached the Semi-Divinity realm shortly after…”
The Blackback Tortoise quickly went through his story.
“A figure? What did that figure look like? Do you know where she went afterward?” Zhang Xuan asked anxiously.
“She’s a young lady. I wasn’t able to catch a clear glimpse of her appearance, and I’m not too sure where she went. After drinking her blood, I immediately fainted from the sheer energy it harnessed. When I came to, I was already at the Semi-Divinity realm. To be honest, I’m not too sure how it happened either,” the Blackback Tortoise replied awkwardly.
Only some time after reaching the Semi-Divinity realm did it deduce that it had something to do with the young lady who had appeared from the sky that day. Most likely, she was a true god. That would explain why her blood harnessed so much power, allowing it and a few other Semi-Divinity realm beasts to successfully make a breakthrough.
“Does she look like this?” Zhang Xuan quickly flicked his finger and drew out Luo Ruoxin’s portrait in midair.
“I can’t remember anymore…” The Blackback Tortoise shook its head. “For some reason, my memories of her are a little hazy.”
It distinctly remembered seeing the young lady descending from the sky, but other than her gender, somehow, it was unable to recall her appearance, physique, or anything else. Its mind would simply draw a blank each time it tried to think about it.
Most likely, that was the doing of the young lady.
Zhang Xuan erased the portraits and instructed, “Take me over to the Vacant Sea you spoke of.”
The Blackback Tortoise was horrified. It quickly explained, “There were a few more Semi-Divinity realm beasts who achieved a breakthrough that day. It’s very dangerous to head over there right now!”
It might have managed to achieve a breakthrough to the Semi-Divinity realm, but it was well aware that it was not the strongest in the Vacant Sea. Those who had swallowed more blood that day were much stronger than it, which was also why it had swiftly left the region after regaining consciousness.
It would be too dangerous to head over there!
“I understand your concerns, but this is a trip that I have to make,” Zhang Xuan said firmly.
Without a doubt, what had allowed the Blackback Tortoise to achieve a breakthrough was the blood of a god. The incident had happened two months ago, which translated to roughly six hundred days on the Master Teacher Continent. It matched the time that he first met Luo Ruoxin.
There was a good chance that the god who had descended from the sky was Luo Ruoxin!
However, he would only be able to verify it if he headed over personally.
Seeing that its master’s mind was made up, the Blackback Tortoise thought about the little yellow chick and the Semi-Divinity artifact in its master’s possession, and it felt a lot more assured than before. “Alright then…”
“Let’s go!” Zhang Xuan could not bring himself to wait even a moment longer. Leaping onto the back of the Blackback Tortoise, he quickly sent a telepathic message to Pavilion Master Kui Xiao to inform the latter before quickly heading in the direction of the Vacant Sea.
As a Semi-Divinity realm beast, the Blackback Tortoise sped through the water swiftly like a bolt of lightning. Heavenly High Immortal realm cultivators would often require at least a day to travel a distance of two million li, but with the Blackback Tortoise traveling at its maximum speed, it only took half a day for him to arrive at his destination.
Floating in the air, Zhang Xuan gazed down at the Vacant Sea from above.
Just as the Blackback Tortoise had described, there was not a person or an island to be seen. All that could be seen was the ocean, which seemed to merge together with the sky at the horizon.
However, unlike the deep blue water in the other parts of the Sea of Exiled Stars, the water here had a slight tinge of redness to it, giving it an eerie undertone. It felt like some kind of tragedy had happened there.
“The water in this region used to be deep blue in color, but ever since that young lady’s blood dripped into the water, the area turned into such a state. It hasn’t been able to revert back to its original state even after the passing of two months,” the Blackback Tortoise said.
Nodding slightly, Zhang Xuan carefully activated his Eye of Insight and entered the water to take a closer look.
The slightly red ocean water was surprisingly abundant in spiritual energy, making it feel like a blessed land. It had nourished the beasts and plants living in the area, making them far stronger than those in the other parts of the ocean.
Most likely, this had something to do with the blood of the god.
Zhang Xuan swam all the way of the bottom of the ocean, and over there, he found a couple of crimson-colored rocks.
They were the Godblood Rocks he had seen at the Wuhai Market previously.
There were not too many of such rocks, and most of them did not harness as much power as the one he had seen previously.
Zhang Xuan casually placed his hand on one of the rocks and used the Library of Heaven’s Path to analyze it. The compiled book was the same as before, reflecting just the name, Godblood Rock.
Zhang Xuan swam around the area and noticed that the area tinged with redness wasn’t too vast. He turned to the Blackback Tortoise and asked, “Where did that figure appear back then?”
“It appeared south of where we currently are… But Master, I recommend you don’t head there. The area is currently dominated by the Three Shark Brothers. They were the ones who chased me away back then,” the Blackback Tortoise said with a reddened face.
“Three Shark Brothers?” Zhang Xuan frowned.
“They are the conquerors of the Vacant Sea. They were already extremely powerful at the Heavenly High Immortal realm, such that I was never a match for them. Back then, in view of my powerful defense and the fact that I’ve never provoked them, we never crossed one another…
“However, after consuming the blood and achieving a breakthrough to the Semi-Divinity realm, they grew much stronger than before, even more so than me. In order to claim the blood lingering in the region for themselves, they forced me out of the area I previously resided in. As I was no match for them, I had no choice but to leave,” the Blackback Tortoise said.
“You are saying that… all three of them have reached the Semi-Divinity realm?” Zhang Xuan’s face darkened.
