"Is there an important matter?" Zhang Rongfang's expression turned serious, "Do you need help?"

Usually, besides the matters related to him, the Thousand Stone Sect has many miscellaneous affairs to deal with.

Such as recruiting new disciples, capturing and punishing traitors, collecting treasures and medicinal materials, socializing with friends, and so on.

People are not items; they all have their own social activities. So Zuo Han is not always by his side; he occasionally leaves to handle his own affairs.

He's used to this situation.

"The Sect Leader has already mentioned it; please don't worry, the Crown Prince, he will handle it himself," the man replied.

"Alright, you may leave." At this point, Zhang Rongfang understood in his heart that he can only wait until Zuo Han returns to try again.

"Yes."

The black-clad man from the Thousand Stone Sect quickly stood up, retreated a few steps, and turned to swiftly leave.

Soon the entire forest was left with Zhang Rongfang alone.

He sighed softly.

His figure moved again, continuing to rush towards the further mountain forest.

Sprinting all the way, he didn't know how far he ran, until there was no sign of people around, even the ground was covered with tree roots and vines everywhere, bushes and grass were scattered all around, leaving no space for human presence.

Only here did he stop, satisfied.

'Next, it's time to test what this new Blood Lotus is truly capable of...'

Standing at the edge of a giant tree that required three people to encircle.

The tree was a banyan, with aerial roots hanging down, forming a forest from one single tree.

Dappled sunlight sprinkled around, the scenery was beautiful, the air was fresh and clean, without a speck of dust.

Zhang Rongfang looked up at the sky beyond the gaps between the leaves.

Blue and gold were mixed, somewhat dazzling.

"Let's begin."

He closed his eyes. He sensed the position of the Blood Lotus on his back.

Inhale...

Exhale....

Inhale.....

Exhale...

Swish!

Suddenly his eyes opened wide, and a blood-red flashed through his pupils.

His body began to swell, grow larger, the skin on the surface was stretched and cracked by the expansion of flesh, then like a blood-colored porcelain, before it shattered, it healed again.

Then it was stretched and cracked again by new flesh.

Repetition like this.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

In just a few short seconds, his body rapidly grew from two and a half meters to three meters, and continued!

Three meters two.

Three meters five.

Three meters seven...

Four meters!!

Zhang Rongfang's entire clothing exploded, his body completely covered by the Blood Lotus.

The Blood Lotus originally only on his back now seemed to merge with the blood-red cracks all over, forming a larger Blood Lotus covering the whole body.

'No....'

Zhang Rongfang looked down at his bare upper body.

'The Blood Lotus now doesn't resemble a flower anymore.... but a net!'

Like a special blood-red network woven by a spider...

"Is this... the power of the Blood Lotus?!"

Zhang Rongfang raised his hand, looking at his arm which was completely covered by blood-red patterns, its circumference had increased more than twice its original size.

He bent over slowly, picked up some ragged robes from the ground, and tied them around his waist to cover his vital parts.

Then swiftly moved forward, passing through large areas of forest to a small pond beside the banyan tree.

Using the reflection in the pond, he finally saw his appearance at this moment.

It was a four-meter tall, two-meter wide, massive monster seemingly dressed in blood-colored muscular armor.

His long hair was spread to his waist, faintly tinged with a hint of blood-red.

His eyes, earholes, mouth, and nose were all covered by a thin transparent blood film, seemingly protecting vital areas.

The vital parts below also naturally grew layers of muscle armor, resembling a naturally endowed pair of blood-colored trousers.

Clearly not wearing any clothes, but in the pond reflection, he looked like he was wearing a coat soaked in blood, and above that was a set of blood flesh armor.

Ha...

Zhang Rongfang opened his mouth, expelling a breath of hot air.

Which just happened to reveal that his oral cavity was no longer in a normal state.

Among the dense white teeth, another ring of white seemed to be growing on the inside.

It was as though a new row of teeth was about to emerge.

He reached out and touched his own open eyes.

The surface of his eyeball was covered with a layer of transparent film, preventing direct contact with his fingers.

The film was quite resilient.

"Is this the Blood Lotus state?"

Zhang Rongfang raised his hand, spreading five fingers, the muscles on his body naturally squeezed, flowed, and coordinated, emitting faint cracking sounds.

He could feel, at this moment, he was much stronger than before, even when stacking Extreme State...

This state seemed to naturally link all Extreme States he had cultivated before, forcibly forming a complete system structure with the Blood Lotus.

"Then."

He looked at the pond in front of him.

Gently waved his right arm.

Swish!

The right palm instantly disappeared.

Immediately followed by a gust of wind sweeping across the whole pool, pressing and shaking the calm water surface, blowing out large ripples.

"It's a pity... there's no more specific comparison to let me know how strong I am now. Just relying on feeling is not accurate."

Zhang Rongfang was somewhat regretful.

He felt much stronger than before, but only through actual combat could he know what level he could reach.

Looking at his reflection in the water. Who would have thought that a few years ago, he was just someone of ordinary height under 1.8 meters?

Now, unexpectedly...

Looking at his image in front of him, Zhang Rongfang felt a faint sense of unease in his heart.

Not for anything else, but simply because this appearance was too evil, making people feel uncomfortable at first glance.

"No...! With such an appearance, once exposed, there's no need for explanation, everyone would call for a strike. He'd instantly be marked as a member of the evil sect."

This won't do!

He was born into a prestigious family, walking the righteous path, and now he's a closed-door disciple of one of the top leaders in the righteous Daoist sect in the world.

How could he have such an evil combat form?

Zhang Rongfang quickly relaxed his body, shrinking rapidly, soon returning to his original normal size of 2.5 meters.

Then he stood by the pool, pondering carefully how to solve this problem.

Don't look down on such a trivial matter like appearance.

But many times, judging people by appearance is everyone's instinct.

Outside, if he were fighting with someone and encountered a do-gooder who saw injustice, just one glance, his image would definitely be seen as a villain.

"Like this!" Finally, Zhang Rongfang thought of a slight solution.

"I diligently practice the elixir method, now breaking through the elixir to form an infant, about to achieve Refining God. In ancient times, reaching Refining God could be called a human prodigy and extend life by decades. This is the first."

"Lotus, in both Buddhist and Daoist teachings, is a pure flower that emerges unstained from the mud, with special significance. Though I am made of flesh, I am still a lotus, representing one of the Three Flowers of the human body!"

Zhang Rongfang forcefully matched this idea.

"Furthermore! In ancient times, a person who achieved enlightenment was called an immortal. I can completely create one again!"

Zhang Rongfang's eyes flashed with spirit light. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"An immortal is someone as high as the mountains. A person as tall as a mountain is an immortal! My height being too tall can justifiably explain this!!"

Although the homophone for Great Spirit is not written like this, Zhang Rongfang plans to start promoting and publicizing this aspect once he returns.

If there's no simplified character for 'immortal', why not create one?

Anyway, Great Spirit generally doesn't bother with this; he comes from a prestigious family known for creating fake names, with plenty of talents under him for this job.

A full setup of ancient book and artifact tombs, then inviting some elder Daoists to spread the word, not too complicated.

He's geared towards this.

As long as extensive publicity is done, claiming Blood Lotus is the righteous path of Daoism, the true path to immortality, and then creating a character for immortality, promoting its meaning...

When the time comes to inadvertently reveal his true form...

Everything falls into place!

"Doesn't Daoism emphasize Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, Five Qi directing towards the origin? At that time, if I study it, maybe I can conjure two more blood lotuses, forming three flowers, then.... everything will be rightly justified..."

The more Zhang Rongfang thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

Immediately, after confirming his future plan, he swiftly returned to Agarwood Mansion and changed his clothes.

The exaggerated increase in Blood Lotus State gave him an extra trump card.

If he had Blood Lotus State during the fight with Sea Dragon King Kongwu before, he probably wouldn't have needed such an explosion, directly capable of complete suppression.

As for how many moves it would take to kill Kongwu, Zhang Rongfang didn't know.

The practical combat power of Blood Lotus State can only be tested in battle.

The only thing he could confirm is that the power amplification in Blood Lotus State is far greater than the accumulation of other Extreme States.

Just that it left him with some regrets, as the internal structure and makeup in Blood Lotus State almost completely changed.

This also resulted in Blood Lotus State being unable to stack with other Extreme States, not even able to use Limit-Breaking skills that require fixed muscle structures.

He could only use ordinary martial techniques and moves.

Once everything was settled, and he had changed clothes, Zhang Rongfang quickly returned to Ping Lodging, the inn opened by the genius girl earlier.

Chang Yuqing was still sitting in the courtyard, but this time not on the swing, rather at the stone table drinking tea, eating pastries.

"Miss Chang, thank you for waiting." Zhang Rongfang, with long hair draped over his shoulders, a burly physique, eyes glinting with a hint of grandeur.

Compared to before, his state is completely different.

"Uh... it hasn't been that long." Chang Yuqing blinked, feeling like the person in front of her had changed.

If previously he was just a robust man with a veneer of civility who seemed to have practiced martial arts, now there was a subtle difference.

This difference made her unable to describe the feeling. But that kind of aura made people unconsciously unable to underestimate him.

"Miss Chang, you..." Zhang Rongfang was about to say something when suddenly his gaze paused.

He actually caught an extremely faint scent of blood and meat from Chang Yuqing.

Could it be... capable of absorbing!?

A bold idea surged in his mind.

Clap.

Suddenly, he clasped his hands together.

"Miss Chang, I've found a way to cure your illness."

He wasn't speaking recklessly; Chang Yuqing's illness fundamentally stemmed from her body being unable to bear the burden of her brain's talents, causing severe depletion of the Essence Qi in her vitality.

The constant siphoning of Essence Qi by the spirit leads to the inability of Essence Qi to grow and develop independently.

Thus a vicious cycle.

With his dark vision seeing clearly, solving this issue wasn't difficult.

Those previous medical experts must have treated it as a disease.

But the problem is, Chang Yuqing's condition is not a disease.

Rather than calling it a disease, it's more like an overbearing gift causing a burden.

Unfortunately, Chang Yuqing's symptoms very closely resemble those in medical books, worsened by her physical weakness and multiple ailments, making the condition complex and profound.

Without dark vision, Zhang Rongfang wouldn't dare be so confident.

But seeing it with his own eyes, there can't be a mistake.