Zhang Ruochen was slightly surprised and asked, “Who was the first one?”
“The one from the Dragon Martial Hall, the first of the Heavenly Characters!” The West Courtyard Master said.
The Xuan Character No. 1 was Duanmu Xingling, the Earth Character No. 1 was Huang Yichen, and the Heaven Character No. 1 was naturally that one descendant of Luo Xu, Luo Shuihan.
The West Courtyard Master seemed to still have some reluctance as he continued, ”Zhang Ruochen, you have to think clearly, the old man has taken in a total of nine disciples, six of them have already become Heavenly Extremity Realm Martial Myths, and one of them is a top ten ranked Heavenly Pride in the Inner Palace of the Martial City Palace of Learning as well. The other two are girl Huang and girl Duanmu, how strong they are, you should also know, right?”
“If you become Old Man’s personal disciple, although you won’t be given more cultivation resources, you’ll be able to borrow Old Man’s name and be able to get more facilities in the Martial City School Palace, and moreover, no one will dare to cross swords with you easily.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “My student’s mind is made up, and even if I encounter any setbacks or difficulties in the Martial City Academic Palace in the future, I will never regret it.”
“Alright! Since you have such a firm conviction, I won’t advise you anymore!”
The Western Academy Master took out a small delicate jade bottle from his bosom and handed it to Zhang Ruochen, saying, “Inside this is a drop of Holy Liquid, it’s for you, as a compensation for you!”
“Holy Liquid!” Zhang Ruochen revealed a look of surprise.
The trainees of the Martial City Academy were much stronger than other martial artists in the same realm. For example, Feng Zhilin, although he was at the Xuan Extreme Realm Grand Extreme Realm, he was able to resist seven or eight Xuan Extreme Realm Grand Extreme Realm martial artists. That was because, the students of the Martial Market Palace had the opportunity to take in the Half-Saint True Liquid.
An ordinary Outer Palace trainee, every year, was able to receive a drop of Half-Saint True Liquid to use to temper their physique.
An Outer Palace cadet ranked in the top one hundred in the Western Academy, every quarter, would be able to receive a drop of Half-Saint True Liquid.
A cadet ranked in the top ten in the Western Academy would be able to receive two drops of Half-Saint True Liquid every quarter.
The cadet who ranked first in the Western Academy, every quarter, could receive ten drops of Half-Saint True Liquid.
By quenching one drop of Half-Saint True Liquid, a martial artist’s physique could become significantly stronger and would be more powerful in the same realm.
A drop of Half Saint True Liquid, when taken outside and sold, could fetch a high price of 100,000 silver coins. Moreover, there was no market for it.
The Half-Saint True Liquid was an unattainable treasure for the trainees, so who would take it out and sell it?
The Sacred Liquid handed over to Zhang Ruochen by the West Courtyard’s Master was tens of times more precious than the Half-Sacred True Liquid, with each drop being worth more than five million silver coins. It couldn’t be bought at all in the Lower and Middle Counties, and was only possible in the Upper Counties.
Zhang Ruochen was naturally nonchalant and accepted the Holy Liquid painfully.
Afterwards, Zhang Ruochen bid farewell to the Western Courtyard Master and returned to the Dragon Martial Hall.
“A drop of Holy Liquid, that’s really great! With the help of this drop of Sacred Liquid, my martial arts will become even more powerful, and I might have a chance to impact the Supreme Extreme Realm of the Xuan Extreme Realm.” Zhang Ruochen cupped the small jade bottle in his hands, his heart very happy.
To reach the Supreme Extreme Realm of the Xuan Extreme Realm, just relying on a single drop of Sacred Liquid was far from enough. The key lay in the fact that Zhang Ruochen cultivated the Nine Heavenly Bright Emperor Scripture, which opened up thirty-six meridians in his body, and he even reached the peak realm of Sword Follows Heart, which was an advantage that other geniuses simply did not possess.
The Holy Liquid played a supporting role.
Moreover, even if all these conditions were added up, Zhang Ruochen’s chances of reaching the Supreme Extreme Realm of the Xuan Extreme Realm were still quite slim.
Zhang Ruochen did not intend to take the Holy Liquid for the time being, and was prepared to wait until his cultivation reached the Great Perfection of the Xuan Extremity Realm before taking the Holy Liquid. Only in this way could the value of the Holy Liquid be utilised to the maximum extent.
“The Western Academy will hold a quarterly examination every three months, and as long as you make it to the top one hundred in the quarterly examination, you will be able to receive a drop of the Semi-Sacred True Liquid. The Half-Saint True Liquid’s effects, although not as good as the Holy Liquid, are still very precious, and even if you have money, it’s hard to buy it.”
“There are still two months to go before the quarterly assessment, so I’ll strive to get at least one drop of Half Saint True Liquid as well.”
Almost all of the top one hundred ranked students in the Western Academy were veterans who had been cultivating in the Academy Palace for several years, and their cultivation levels were all at the Xuanji Realm Grand Circle.
With a cultivation level like Feng Zhilin’s, he could only rank one hundred and seventy-third in the Western Academy.
“First, I will successfully cultivate the twelve strokes of the Heavenly Heart Sword Technique.”
Zhang Ruochen had already succeeded in cultivating six moves of the Heavenly Heart Sword Technique, and had succeeded in cultivating half of this set of Spirit Grade Lower Grade Sword Techniques.
Now that he had reached the peak of Sword Follows Heart, the speed of cultivating sword techniques would be much faster than before.
……
After nightfall, the West Courtyard was still brightly lit, with some of the martial artists still cultivating their martial skills and sweating on the martial arts field, wanting to make a name for themselves through their endeavours in the quarterly examination that would take place two months later.
Some other martial artists were gathering together, drinking fine wine and talking about the world’s major events, occasionally discussing each and every one of the West Courtyard’s Qianli Senior Sisters or Senior Sisters, followed by a burst of laughter.
The roars of savage beasts came from time to time from the lofty and majestic Heavenly Demon Ridge, but the trainees of the Western Academy didn’t take it to heart, having long since grown accustomed to it.
A slender black silhouette swept past the top of the building, transforming into a residual shadow and rushing into a lush jungle.
Even though she was wearing night clothes, she was still able to tell that it was a woman.
In the other four directions of the Western Courtyard, four black shadows also swept out separately, converging with her.
The five black-clothed people did not speak, they just made a gesture to each other, and together they rushed in the same direction, arriving at the edge of a cliff.
At the edge of the cliff, there stood a black-robed man wearing a cloak, his entire body shrouded in black, with only one left hand exposed. Wrinkles grew on the back of his hand, and it was clear that he was an old man.
After the five black-clothed men arrived in front of the old man, they neatly knelt down on one knee and said, “Greetings to the Elder.”
That one old man with a cloak, turned around and glanced towards them, his gaze fixing on the one black-robed man with a rather slim figure, saying, “Are you this year’s new student?”
That one woman in black, said, “Yes.”
The cloaked old man nodded gently, and took out a golden token from his sleeve, with the word “Hell” printed on it.
Looking at the token, the five black-clothed men immediately lowered their heads, looking even more respectful.
The cloaked old man said, “In the last three months, there have been a total of seven waves of people offering bounties for the head of the Ninth Prince of the Yunwu County Kingdom, Zhang Ruochen, with a cumulative bounty amount of 3.3 million silver coins, with the largest bounty being issued yesterday, which amounted to 2 million silver coins.”
“This matter has attracted the attention of the Sect Master, and he personally ordered that within a month, Zhang Ruochen will be killed at no cost. I will give you twenty days, if you are unable to kill Zhang Ruochen within twenty days. I will personally take action!”
“It’s the same old rules, you can’t reveal your identities to each other, and for all actions, follow my signals. You guys go back!”
“Yes!”
The five black-robed men answered and left individually, returning to the Western Courtyard.
The old man in the cloak looked at the five black-robed men who had left and removed the cloak from his head, revealing a pale face.
If Zhang Ruochen was here, he would be able to recognise him as the head of the Western Courtyard’s elders, Elder Situ.
“Three million three hundred thousand silver coins is not a small amount, that kid’s head is really worth it.”
A hint of coldness appeared in Elder Situ’s eyes as he put his cloak back on and walked out of the dense forest step by step.
……
The next day.
“Zhang Ruochen, outside the Dragon Martial Hall, there is a beautiful girl surnamed Zi who wants to see you.”
Xiao Hei’s voice, which came in from outside the Time Crystal Stone, rang in Zhang Ruochen’s ears.
When Zhang Ruochen was cultivating in the inner space of the Space-Time Crystal Stone, he usually asked Little Black to watch the door outside and inform him promptly if anyone came to see him.
Zhang Ruochen put down the sword in his hand and walked out of the Space-Time Crystal Stone, glancing towards Xiao Hei, who was concentrating on reading a book, and gently shook his head before walking towards the gate of the Dragon Martial Hall.
Zixi was wearing a clean snow-white robe, holding an ancient sword, standing outside the Dragon Martial Hall with her back turned, and from afar, she looked like a white and flawless lotus in the centre of a lake.
Zhang Ruochen laughed, “Senior Sister Zi, after not seeing you for a few days, your cultivation seems to have improved again.”
Zi Xie heard Zhang Ruochen’s voice, so she turned around and stared at him, saying, “Who said I’m your senior sister?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “We are freshmen in the same year, moreover, I’m the first freshman and you’re the second freshman, so I’m naturally the senior brother, so it seems right to call you senior sister, right?”
Zixi seemed to be in no mood to argue with Zhang Ruochen, her eyes cold as she said, “Do you want to not invite me to your Yellow Character No. 1 to have a seat?”
Zhang Ruochen’s heart stirred, based on her understanding of Zixi, it was impossible for her to come to him for no reason. Could it be that something had happened?
“Please!”
Zhang Ruochen’s face turned serious as he led Zixi into the Dragon Martial Hall and headed towards the Yellow Character Number One.
Opposite the Yellow Character Number One was the Earth Character Number One.
At this moment, Duanmu Xingling and Huang Yichen were both sitting on top of the pavilion of the first number of the Earth Character, and naturally saw Zhang Ruochen walk into the door of the first number of the Yellow Character with Zixi.
“This Ninth Prince is truly a flirt, he actually took down the number one beauty among the new students, if the news spreads out, those male students in the Western Academy will probably cry out a whole lot again.” Duanmu Xingling laughed while quietly looking over towards Huang Yichen.
Huang Yichen snorted coldly, “sl*t/thief!”
Duanmu Xingling narrowed her eyes and laughed, “Sister Dust, are you really just going to watch Zhang Ruochen be taken away by another woman? I’m so upset for you, and you’re not touched at all?”
Huang Yichen lifted her jade teacup and said indifferently, “Who he is dating is his business, it has nothing to do with me. You don’t think very highly of him, since that’s the case, then why didn’t you step in and knock that one freshman’s number one beauty out?”
Duanmu Xingling pursed her lips slightly, not intending to make a move, and laughed, “I only said that there is a possibility that I might like him in the future, as for now …… I’m not worthy of my name, so how can I have the qualifications to make a move? On the contrary, Sister Dust, you have had that one night with Zhang Ruochen, if you make a move, then first of all, you will take up a word of reason.”
“What do you mean by having had a night? If you weren’t my own senior sister, I would definitely cut out your tongue.” Huang Yichen’s face was unusually cold, his palm pressed on the desktop, causing a layer of cold ice to form on it.
Duanmu Xingling wasn’t the least bit afraid, still wearing a faint smile, saying, “So are you going or not? If you don’t make a move, they might have already cooked the raw rice.”
“Just go, we can’t let that one lecherous/thief spoil the Dragon Martial Hall’s morale.” Huang Yichen lifted his sword up, pointed his toes, turned into a fragrant wind, and flew down from the top of the attic, heading towards the yellow character number one.
“Right! Right! Letting him dare to do bad things even in the daytime, he should be taught a little lesson.” Duanmu Xingling’s mouth emitted a melodious laughter with a gloating look.
……
Walking into the Yellow Character Number 1 and just sitting down, Zixie opened the door and said, “Zhang Ruochen, do you know how much your head is worth right now?”
Hearing this, even Xiao Hei, who had been reading carefully, raised his head and stared at Zixi.
Zhang Ruochen said, “How much?”
“Three million three hundred thousand silver coins.” Zixie said.
Xiao Hei’s eyes lit up as he looked towards Zhang Ruochen’s neck, seemingly pondering whether to slaughter Zhang Ruochen’s head and take it in exchange for a huge amount of silver coins.
Three million three hundred thousand silver coins, comparable to the combined wealth of a seventh-rate family head.
Zhang Ruochen laughed, “You’re not going to tell me that you’re here to kill me, are you?”
“If I were to kill you, actually, there is still a chance.” The corner of Zixi’s eyes rose slightly, revealing a hint of disdain as she said, “It’s just that I’m not interested in your head.”
Zhang Ruochen understood and said, “Three million three hundred thousand silver coins is not a small amount, even a Heavenly Extreme Realm Martial Myth would be moved, it seems like the Hellmouth Sect is prepared to kill me at all costs this time. You leaked the information to me, aren’t you afraid that other assassins from the Hellmouth Sect will turn against you?”
Zixi stood up and said, “I didn’t leak any information to you, I just told you the price of your head.”
After saying this, she was about to leave.
Zhang Ruochen pondered slightly for a moment and said, “Since you’ve told me a message, I’ll also tell you a message. Recently, you’d better be careful as well, the Martial City Academy has been preparing to clean up you evil people who have infiltrated in the black market.”
The Hellmouth Sect was the largest assassin organisation in the Nine Counties of Lingxi, and it also belonged to the forces in the black market and was governed by the black market.
“Thank you!”
Zixi slightly paused her steps, and then, with a faster speed, she walked towards the door.
Suddenly, footsteps came from outside.
“There’s someone outside.”
Zhang Ruochen and Zixie’s faces changed, had they already been discovered?
“Boom!”
The main door was chopped apart by a sword qi, and even the bowl-thick pillars on both sides of the main door were chopped off by two, and the entire wooden building shook.
Wearing a brocade robe and carrying a long sword, Huang Yichen walked in from outside with an imposing presence. Her eyes were very cold and chilly as she scanned Zhang Ruochen and Zixi who were standing in the lobby.
Just after walking in, Huang Yichen regretted it.
Zhang Ruochen and Zixie were neatly dressed and had not transgressed in any way at all, like two friends at a party.
On the contrary, it was her, who had inexplicably used her sword and split the gate, who had intended to come in to catch the adulterer, but now she was at a bit of a loss instead.
However, as the female devil of the West Courtyard, she naturally couldn’t show a hint of embarrassment, instead, she still put on a very strong appearance, her eyes so sharp that they were like two cold swords.
Zhang Ruochen and Zixie, however, were in a different mood.
“Damn! It seems that the conversation between Zixie and I just now must have been heard by her!” Zhang Ruochen knew that the situation was not good when he saw Huang Yichen’s face.
He glanced towards Zixi, his heart slightly worried.
Since Huang Yichen knew that Zixi was an assassin from the Hellmouth Sect, he would definitely not spare her. If Zixie was caught, she would definitely die for sure.
Zixie had revealed her identity because she had come to tattle on him, and Zhang Ruochen didn’t want to see her die because of himself.
Zixie’s heart was also in turmoil after seeing Huang Smokey, but she quickly calmed down and ran her fingers towards the hilt of her sword. Since her identity had been exposed, she could only fight!
Zhang Ruochen also released the Space-Time Domain quietly, enveloping Yellow Smoke Dust into the Space-Time Domain, and if necessary, he had to block Yellow Smoke Dust and buy Zixi a chance to escape.
……
