Chapter 508: Internal Strategy (4K)

Zhang Jian quickly suppressed this thought; for him, the most important thing was to take advantage of the Emperor's unspent fortune and convert it into as much tangible power as possible within these thirty to fifty thousand years.

If that proved impossible, he would at least transform it into accumulated gains.

Zhang Jian slightly sensed the surrounding Red Cloud Forbidden Law, following the connections formed by the heavenly and earthly runes, and quickly locked onto several nodes where the innate vital energy fluctuated abnormally.

After a simple elimination, Zhang Jian locked onto the second and third Cloud Terraces.

After three repairs, the Flame Emperor Immortal Law mastered by Zhang Jian, in the feedback of the fire-attribute heavenly and earthly laws, smoothly advanced to the fifth rank of Immortal Law.

This was his second fifth-rank Immortal Law.

The first fifth-rank Immortal Law was his natal Immortal Law, the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram.

After successfully finding and repairing the core nodes of the three Great Heavenly Circuits Red Cloud Forbidden Law, Zhang Jian had already discovered the inner spacetime passage.

However, at this time, Zhang Jian did not immediately step forward.

Above the Cloud Terrace, fire clouds bloomed all around him, and the void was filled with vast amounts of innate vital energy, which Zhang Jian refined and tempered, forging his innate divine body and aiding the growth of immortal light within.

If Zhang Jian were a fire-attribute innate divine being, he would benefit even more; by calming his mind, he could use this to comprehend part of the fire-attribute heavenly and earthly great Dao laws.

At this moment, Zhang Jian gazed into the depths of the void, and faintly discovered something.

The Great Heavenly Circuits Red Cloud Forbidden Law, though incomplete, was certainly not merely the three core nodes he had found; many incomplete nodes remained around.

It could be said to be a large block.

Regarding these incomplete nodes, Zhang Jian had some thoughts.

For him, repairing them completely should not be difficult.

It might only take a thousand or so years, and he could reconnect the broken forbidden law of this core region into a single line!

But the question was whether it was necessary to do so?

After all, this would waste a thousand or so years of his cultivation time!

Zhang Jian's eyes flickered slightly.

At this moment, the 'strategy' information given by the Tongshan Dao Tong surged in his mind.

There were many hidden benefits in the outer layer; if he could obtain them, they would greatly aid his cultivation.

Moreover, even if repairing the forbidden law of the core region before him yielded no hidden benefits, merely learning this forbidden law would greatly help him, enhancing his attainment in the heavenly and earthly rune Dao.

After slight consideration, Zhang Jian still decided to proceed.

Besides, the previous three timed missions had already been completed, earning him an extra two thousand four hundred years of stagnation time; spending a thousand years to comprehend this Great Heavenly Circuits Red Cloud Forbidden Law was also acceptable.

With an idea in mind, Zhang Jian did not directly leave the outer layer but instead moved to a slightly abnormal forbidden law node nearby, landing around it and beginning to comprehend its repair from scratch.

This action of his naturally fell completely into the sight of the innate divine being named Red Cloud.

He had a blank expression, his figure hidden within the Great Heavenly Circuits Red Cloud Forbidden Law, red clouds swirling around him like blazing flames, as if he had transformed into a red cloud, his eyes merely gazing indifferently at Zhang Jian busying himself in this area.

In the depths of his eyes, there was no emotional change whatsoever, only utter divinity, as if born from the nurturing of the Heavenly Dao, with only the operation of the heavenly and earthly great Dao laws visible in his pupils.

It seemed he had cultivated an extremely profound method, leading to such a change.

After sensing Zhang Jian's actions, he faithfully recorded Zhang Jian's every move in writing, then plunged into the depths of the void.

Each time Zhang Jian repaired a forbidden law node, a surge of majestic innate vital energy gushed from the depths of the Cloud Terrace, completely flowing into the depths of Zhang Jian's glabella, accompanied by a wisp of substantive fire-attribute heavenly and earthly great Dao law mystery.

Unconsciously, the red light staining Zhang Jian's body grew increasingly intense.

His comprehension of the Great Heavenly Circuits Red Cloud Forbidden Law caused this red light to seem like scattered, wandering cloud light, gathering and dispersing unpredictably, and along with it, his innate divine body seemed to possess this grand divine power of gathering and dispersing unpredictably.

Within his physique, countless crimson divine lights surged, seeping into every cell, between flesh and blood.

However, this differed from the Great Heavenly Circuits Red Cloud Forbidden Law.

The Great Heavenly Circuits Red Cloud Forbidden Law uses countless heavenly and earthly rune cultures as clouds, able to freely reorganize the origin.

He, however, uses the Earth Emperor Dao Qi as the origin, similarly able to achieve this step, thereby obtaining a higher-level indestructible body.

And further expanding the original indestructible true body.

Even if his primordial spirit imprint were destroyed, he could still, through a hidden wisp of Dao Qi, gain the ability to be reborn.

Zhang Jian did not pay too much attention to this change; most of his mind and spirit remained focused on the Great Heavenly Circuits Red Cloud Forbidden Law.

Even with his cultivation level of Taiyi True Number, he at this moment felt the gains were enormous.

Every moment, his understanding of the heavenly and earthly rune great Dao leaped forward, and thus part of the mysterious heavenly and earthly treasures within and without his body was also grasped by him through analogy, with gains accumulating.

Heart of Dimensions!

Heavenly Circuit Star Soul!

Hunyuan Life and Death Pearl!

Reincarnation Divine Stone!

Flame Emperor Attainment Diagram!

One after another, the heavenly and earthly Dao traces contained in these treasures, during contemplation, would at times collide mysteriously with the heavenly and earthly runes before him, sparking sparks of wisdom.

Unconsciously, Zhang Jian completed repairing the nodes around the core region.

At the moment of repairing the final node, he saw fire clouds around him scattering divine light, continuously absorbing innate vital energy and expanding, instantly transforming into a vast sea of clouds, merging into one, and continuously rotating with the Cloud Terrace beneath his feet as the center, while the three thousand red clouds around resonated faintly, as if countless fire-attribute heavenly and earthly great Dao laws pierced through the void, merging into one, forming a bright, clear red light piercing the azure sky.

A majestic divine might faintly emerged from within.

Zhang Jian felt an unparalleled, majestic and lofty aura flowing forth from within.

It traversed time and space, ages, distant, solitary, ancient.

"Success!"

Gazing at this sight, Zhang Jian at this moment also raised his head, feeling as if he had been renewed and vibrant, appearing before the ages.

He calculated on his fingers and instantly knew that repairing these dozens of nodes had taken him nearly a thousand years.

This matched his earlier deduction exactly.

Just then, Zhang Jian suddenly felt a stir in his heart.

But he saw that above the azure sky, as the power of the countless Great Heavenly Circuits Red Cloud Forbidden Law pierced through and merged into one, after a moment, a majestic divine power flowed forth from the depths of the azure sky, instantly transforming into a red light that flew toward Zhang Jian.

Red light split into two in the void.

Zhang Jian sensed part of the scene deep in his sea of consciousness beforehand, his eyes flashing with a hint of brightness.

It seemed he had not guessed wrong this time.

The two objects fell from the void separately; one directly merged into the depths of Zhang Jian's brow, and as he raised his hand, a cluster of intense rose-red flame instantly appeared deep in his palm.

Like the rosy clouds on the horizon.

This is a heavenly and earthly rare treasure, the Scattered Soul True Fire!

A hint of a rich smile appeared in his eyes.

This fire is the divine fire of heaven and earth born from a heavenly and earthly spiritual root at the time of the primordial opening of heaven and earth, possessing unfathomable power, containing within it multiple profound mysteries of Dao qi, in fact it is a marvel born from the fusion of various Dao qi, specially used to forge the primordial spirit and soul, extremely vicious.

It is said that even if the Primordial Lord's primordial spirit is tempered by this fire, its immortal and indestructible nature will be damaged, thus suffering severe injury!

This single item, he has not wasted his time over these thousand years.

And the other item is a cloud-patterned jade tablet, identical to the three jade tablets he previously obtained.

Except the number is larger.

"Three thousand years!"

Gazing at the jade tablet in his hand, Zhang Jian's mouth corner curled into a smile.

This thousand years he did not waste, and he even gained an additional two thousand years of stay time; added to the original five thousand four hundred years, the time he can remain within the Fire Cloud Cave Heaven has now increased to seven thousand four hundred years!

With a thought, Zhang Jian then infused the innate fire seed of the Scattered Soul True Fire into the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram.

As it gradually refined.

Within his Mountains and Rivers State Diagram, the cloud sea surged, the cloud sea having merged with the myriad transformations of heaven and earth, within which the transformation of the cosmic cycle is hidden.

The magnificent refining power of the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram that refines the great Dao of heaven and earth seems to have become even stronger.

Its offensive capability is even more prominent.

Deep within the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram, the State and Altar Cauldron sensed the influx of the rose-red flame, and was secretly shocked.

Even as a fifth-rank immortal treasure, facing such terrifying flame, it also felt a lethal power.

This flame might not be able to damage the State and Altar Cauldron's material itself, but for its treasure spirit, it is extraordinarily lethal!

Yet the State and Altar Cauldron instead gave rise to a feeling of excitement.

"Following Zhang Xiaozi, indeed not mistaken; in such a short time he obtained another heavenly and earthly rare treasure-level innate divine fire, which certainly holds great hope of achieving Primordial Lord status; when that time comes, as his natal spirit treasure, I too will be able to follow him through the Great Calamity of Destruction, not to mention being able to follow him to see the Emperor again..."

The State and Altar Cauldron then focused entirely on unleashing its cauldron's extraordinary ability, assisting Zhang Jian in fully refining several heavenly and earthly rare treasures, thoroughly integrating them into the power of the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram.

……

After storing the jade tablet into his sleeve, Zhang Jian then glanced at other areas of the outer layer.

He sensed that within this vast expanse of red clouds, the outer layer's other areas also had damaged restrictions, but the quantity there was too great, and the trans-domain distance too far, so Zhang Jian chose not to continue intervening.

He knew it might be the trial ground for future human emperors, and he had no need to over-interfere.

Zhang Jian chose to be content with what he had, and directly entered the inner layer through the red cloud passage before him.

Zhang Jian's action also fell into the sight of the red clouds lurking in the dark.

His pupils fluctuated, and in the depths of his eyes, a rare hint of emotion appeared, slightly tinged with contemplation.

Meanwhile, deep in the void, Zhang Jian crossed a vast spacetime passage.

His figure appeared in a foreign spacetime.

Around him was no longer the sight of countless fire clouds surrounding.

Although there were still some crimson clouds, they were no longer dense, but scattered and dispersed.

In their place, a vast cloud sea appeared before him, as if it had stood here since the opening of heaven and earth, with magnificent heavenly light shining down from the firmament above, immensely vast and pure.

Where the heavenly light shone, at the center of the cloud sea stood a massive stone cavern.

That stone cavern possessed a profound Dao rhythm Zhang Jian had never seen before.

Its entire body was entwined with a supreme and noble purple hue, within which lay ineffable heavenly and earthly mysteries.

Even if Zhang Jian merely glanced at it, he felt his innate primordial spirit as if lost within that magnificent Dao rhythm.

"This is the inner layer!"

Zhang Jian thought to himself.

His gaze fell upon that stone cavern; with his experience, he could not actually discern the origin of that divine stone, only feeling it seemed to harmonize with the Fire Cloud Cave Heaven as one, as if it had existed since the creation of heaven and earth, ancient and unchanging.

Zhang Jian then stood again before the cavern.

Before him stood another divine stele, its inscription bearing several magnificent gold innate seal scripts.

Those few innate seal scripts seemed to have been born from the nurturing of heaven and earth.

"At the beginning of the Five Extremes, the Fire Cloud Cave Heaven!"

Zhang Jian's gaze swept over, and in the depths of his eyes, there was a hint of emotion.

Besides this, beneath the small divine stele, he additionally discovered eight large characters.

"Heavenly Virtue Completed, Sage Virtue Has Dao!"

Zhang Jian pondered slightly, he strode forward into the cloud sea, while he had also long noticed the anomaly of this inner layer void.

At this moment, his vast innate primordial spirit could sense that the surrounding void, even the firmament, and throughout heaven and earth, was permeated with a layer of intense Dao rhythm of the great Dao of heaven and earth.

Innumerable heavenly and earthly Dao laws were nearly laid bare within this cavern.

Although they were only faintly visible, compared to the cultivation conditions outside, there was no doubt they were superior by countless times.

The spacetime ratio was also vastly different.

Zhang Jian sensed that the inner layer's surroundings were permeated with a layer of special spacetime flood rings, one after another, effectively blocking the erosive force of the outer layer's spacetime flood.

Time was roughly replaced by a ratio of one to three.

One day outside, three days inside.

That is, the seven thousand four hundred years of lifespan he obtained can be retained here for nearly twenty thousand years.

If he can continue to complete the follow-up delay tasks, he can further extend his stay!

Zhang Jian's eyes lit up slightly.

His gaze fell upon the interior of the Fire Cloud Cave Abode before him.

According to the strategy records.

Most of the numerous delay tasks in the inner layer are located within this Fire Cloud Cave Abode.

Another part is located around it.

Zhang Jian's gaze swept downward toward the sea of clouds below, where he saw fire clouds forming islands, densely packed like fish scales.

Upon these islands stood ancient and solemn halls.

"The Hall of the Heavenly Emperor, the Hall of the Agricultural Emperor, the Hall of the Human Emperor, the Hall of the Black Emperor, the Hall of Shaohao, the Hall of King Yu, the Hall of Fire Virtue, the Hall of Wood Virtue..."

Hall after hall of the Human Emperor's Sacred Shrines stood here—some familiar to Zhang Jian, some not. For instance, in the distance he saw a hall named the Blue Sea Sacred Emperor, as well as the Illustrious Sacred King, the Nine Imperial Sacred Emperor Hall, the Geng Ancestor Hall, and others—clearly born of a certain star river beyond the realm.

Most of the Sacred King Halls were flourishing with incense.

Some Sacred King Halls had dim incense, even to the point of being completely extinguished, with only a tiny flame flickering on their golden forms, like a candle in the wind.

Zhang Jian glanced at them and knew the other party might have already fallen, or perhaps was undergoing rebirth in some remote corner.

And upon a low-lying fire cloud, Zhang Jian also saw his own Sacred King Hall.

"The Hall of the Great Xia State and Ancestors!"

Zhang Jian took a look and immediately fell silent—this seemed to carry the air of a knockoff Sacred King, no different from those wild chicken Sacred Kings deep in the star river.

The incense and fortune within were still fairly vigorous.

Beside the hall stood another stone tablet, inscribed with the life of this Great Xia State and Ancestors Emperor.

Zhang Jian glanced at it several times, a faint smile appearing—his résumé still looked presentable.

Aside from other matters, in suppressing the ancient magic spring and thwarting the schemes of the Profound Extreme Magic Lord, he had indeed gained considerable glory, though there was an element of luck involved.

But being able to shatter an incarnation of a Daoist Devil Lord, save all beings of heaven and earth, and spread the deed abroad was also a matter of honor.

As for unifying the Five Continents' human race, he had fallen somewhat short.

Gazing at this sacred hall, he infused a thread of innate primordial spirit into it, and gradually understood its purpose!

This sacred hall stands within the Fire Cloud Cave Heaven—not merely for beauty or veneration by later generations, but it also serves another function.