An imbalance in the Dao Palace?

With the Divine Phoenix Immortal Medicine's fruit right before his eyes yet still beyond his grasp, Black Emperor leaped about in a frenzy.

"Old Bell!!"

"Old Bell, say something!"

"Grandpa Bell! You've collected so many Immortal Medicine fruits, you couldn't possibly eat them all anyway. Why not spare a few for this Emperor?"

Black Emperor howled on the spot, but the Wushi Bell ignored him completely, infuriating him into a stream of curses.

Meanwhile, Jiang Zhu put away Little Immortal Phoenix and Little White Tiger. With a wave of his hand, the captive Black Emperor flew over in front of him.

Black Emperor was still muttering nonstop, denouncing the Wushi Bell for disregarding their years of friendship. If only the Great Emperor were here.

Suddenly, a chill ran through him. Looking up, he found Jiang Zhu studying him.

That gaze was like someone sizing up a slab of meat on a chopping board!

Startled, Black Emperor's few remaining hairs stood on end. He hurriedly shouted, "Woof! What are you up to, brat? Old Bell, Old Bell, get out here! Someone's trying to kill this Emperor!"

His wretched howls instantly echoed throughout the area.

Jiang Zhu nearly burst out laughing-like a turtle allowed to live off campus, he could hardly keep it in his shell.

He was merely curious about a demonic beast's bloodline that had been baptized in imperial blood. He had no intention of eating dog meat!

Come to think of it, could Black Emperor's blood light up a true spirit totem? If it could, would it be the Nine Nether Ao?

After wailing like a ghost and howling like a wolf for quite a while, Black Emperor saw that Jiang Zhu had made no move and could not help asking, "What exactly do you want? This Emperor warns you, Old Bell isn't someone you can mess with!"

"By all rights, your body shouldn't be this strong. I'm very curious." At that moment, Jiang Zhu looked like a mad scientist.

Hearing the man's words, Black Emperor raised his head and puffed out his chest, immensely proud. How could a mere Dao Palace cultivator like you understand the Great Emperor's methods?

Black Emperor held his enormous head high, his expression brimming with arrogance. His eyes rolled about as he said, "Want to know why my body is so strong? Trade an Immortal Medicine fruit for the answer!"

Jiang Zhu rubbed his chin. A fingernail on his right hand lengthened, turning into a sharp dragon claw. "There's no need for all that trouble. I can take a look myself!"

Black Emperor eyed the dragon claw glinting with cold light. It was not long, but it possessed a sharpness that seemed capable of tearing through anything. Even his absurdly powerful body felt waves of icy dread.

Still, he was not worried in the slightest. His body had been baptized in imperial blood, after all. Could this man possibly cut through it?

After a moment's thought, Jiang Zhu took out a Great Saint Weapon to frighten him.

Who would have thought Black Emperor would show no fear at all? He merely tilted his head and shot Jiang Zhu a sidelong glance.

Oh, that really set off my temper!

He was furious, but there really was nothing he could do. This was Great Emperor Wushi's territory. Wouldn't using a Great Saint Weapon against Great Emperor Wushi's pet be asking for death?

Suddenly, inspiration struck. He took out a plum and began eating it, sighing as he did. "Ah, I was going to trade this Medicine King fruit for your blood. Since you're unwilling, I might as well eat it myself!"

"A Medicine King's fruit really is excellent!"

As Jiang Zhu ate, he kept praising the fruit's delicious flavor, occasionally holding the plum in front of Black Emperor.

The fragrance of the Yellow-Central Plum fruit kept drifting into Black Emperor's nose. Its rich life essence tempted him so badly that he could not stop drooling.

"Delicious. Too bad this is the only one I have! Since you won't trade, forget it!"

Watching the Medicine King fruit get eaten down to nothing, Black Emperor hurriedly shouted, "Forget the Immortal Medicine! Would a Medicine King do?"

Jiang Zhu rose to leave, and Black Emperor grew anxious.

His powerful body was entirely thanks to imperial blood. At his core, he was just a little mongrel. If he could trade his blood for Medicine Kings, he could trade for every last Medicine King in the Big Dipper.

He might even throw in a little extra, lest the others feel they were losing too much and refuse to trade with him.

"A precious herb! A precious herb would do too!"

Unmoved, Jiang Zhu walked over to the Wushi Scripture, sat cross-legged beside it, and took out the Divine Phoenix Immortal Medicine's fruit.

Rosy red light wreathed the fruit before him. Rich life essence circulated endlessly within it, along with a vast surge of fire-attribute primal energy. Above the entire fruit, clouds billowed and radiant colors shimmered, a breathtaking sight.

He had not expected to obtain an Immortal Medicine fruit on this trip either. He had thought the Wushi Bell had collected them all, but it had actually left one behind.

Jiang Zhu extracted a drop of medicinal liquid from the fruit. The instant it emerged, it transformed into a tiny immortal phoenix gleaming with red light, and an exquisite fragrance surged forth.

He then took out precious blood and mixed the drop of medicinal liquid into it.

The intoxicating fragrance kept tugging at Black Emperor's heart. Watching Jiang Zhu's actions, he was utterly distraught. "Brat, you don't waste Immortal Medicine like that! Rather than squander it, give it to me! I'll trade my blood for it!"

Ignoring the howling Black Emperor, Jiang Zhu closed his eyes and began cultivating.

With a drop of the Divine Phoenix Immortal Medicine's medicinal liquid, he no longer needed to seek out fire-attribute variant source. Not only could this drop let him break through, but its surplus energy could also temper his body.

For a full half month, Jiang Zhu remained in seclusion. The heavenly sun within him-the heart divine treasury-grew increasingly fiery red. Shaped like an unopened lotus, it produced streams of vital essence before finally transforming into an illusory True Phoenix Deity.

At the same time, the human body's heavenly sun slowly rose and gently descended, repeating its cycle as innate essence burned fiercely.

Nourishing acquired essence poured in without end, merging into this divine treasury. It grew ever more crimson and translucent, as though it had become a real heavenly sun.

The heart divine treasury rose steadily and settled in the void within his body. Like the sun at its zenith, like the blazing orb at noon, it hung across the sky, spreading endless waves of energy.

The spreading energy transformed into tongues of flame. This was innate essence, surrounded by the essence flames of acquired energy, burning fiercely as it continually tempered his body.

Only after a long time had passed did the essence flames disappear.

Within his inner world, mist surged, and the deity True Phoenix emerged to guide the way forward.

Soon, Jiang Zhu sensed an incomparably heavy, substantial aura. He had found the spleen divine treasury, which corresponded to earth among the five elements!

The spleen divine treasury was the foundation of acquired vitality and the source of transformation and generation. It governed the blood of all the meridians and presided over the body's muscles, representing central earth.

This divine treasury governed the circulation and distribution of energy within the body. It could greatly improve the absorption and conversion of spiritual energy. Once cultivated to perfection, it could even directly absorb the essence of heaven and earth. Its immense role truly could not be underestimated.

Jiang Zhu remained seated cross-legged, refining precious blood. An unending stream of vital essence entered his body and flowed into the central divine treasury.

The spleen was the earth organ, housing intent and wisdom!

This was the scripture's fundamental meaning. After successfully entering this realm, Jiang Zhu felt certain places within his body open up, greatly accelerating the rate at which he refined the vital essence of heaven and earth.

Earth-yellow radiance flickered all over Jiang Zhu's body, and vital essence surged before settling down shortly afterward.

He stood up, his broad sleeves fluttering and his face radiant, as though he were ascending to immortality.

This trip into Purple Mountain had yielded abundant rewards. It was time to leave.

However, cultivating the spleen divine treasury required absorbing large amounts of earth-attribute spiritual energy from the world, such as earth-vein energy and the essence of mountains and rivers, or using spirit herbs, Solomon's seal, earth milk, and the like.

Spirit herbs were what Jiang Zhu lacked least at present. As for earth-vein energy, Purple Mountain's terrain of nine dragons arching the pearl was a rarity across the ages, and its earth-vein energy was of the highest quality. Couldn't he simply continue cultivating in Purple Mountain?

But there was another pressing matter: his liver divine treasury was far too powerful. Even its deity had transformed into Nine-Leaf Sword Grass.

The deity of his heart divine treasury, however, was illusory, and it had only formed thanks to the medicinal power of the Divine Phoenix Immortal Medicine.

He need not fear an imbalance in the short term, but he would have to give greater consideration to his subsequent true spirit bloodlines.

Even if he could not rely entirely on true spirit bloodlines to maintain balance, he would still have to follow the heart divine treasury's example and barely sustain that balance with the help of Immortal Medicine.