Duanmu Xingling still looked like she was still only fourteen or five years old, with a petite and delicate figure, plump puffy peaks, a slender willow waist, delicate features, a pair of round beautiful eyes, and fine eyelashes that were long and curved, as if she would only ever stay at the age of a young girl.
Her hands were behind her back, her crystal red lips slightly hooked, revealing a charming and playful look as she said, “It’s only been a month since I’ve seen you, why do I feel a chilling ice aura on you?”
Duanmu Xingling was originally a cold ice physique and was very sensitive to cold ice Qi.
Although Zhang Ruochen had refined the Ice Vein Pill, he hadn’t yet fully integrated the cold ice Qi into his True Qi, which was why it was detected by Duanmu Xingling.
Zhang Ruochen did not answer her, instead, he stared at her and carefully sized her up, saying, “Senior Sister Duanmu, it seems like your cultivation has improved again during the time you’ve been away from the Martial City Academy.”
“Your powers of observation are impressive!”
Duanmu Xingling’s eyes dripped as she laughed, “My cultivation has indeed advanced quite a bit as the technique I cultivate has broken through to a new level and reached a more subtle realm. With my current strength, even if I’m not as good as Sister Dust on top of my speed, my battle power will never lose to her.”
Suddenly, Duanmu Xingling’s eyelids flicked up as she stared at Zhang Ruochen and flirted, “I heard that you recently made a special trip to the Thousand Waters County Kingdom, broke your sword to defeat the Heavenly Pride of various countries, won first place in the Sword Discussion Conference, and even got engaged to the most beautiful Smoky Dust County Mistress of the Thousand Waters County Kingdom?”
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly and did not hide anything from her, telling her the whole story.
After listening to Zhang Ruochen, Duanmu Xingling nodded gently and said, “So that’s how it is, then you have no choice. As long as you become an Inner Palace disciple of the Martial City Palace of Learning, at that time, even the Thousand Water County King wouldn’t dare to kill you easily. Besides, Sister Dust is considered to be a peerless beauty, so if you are able to marry her, it wouldn’t be a loss at all.”
“Now that the entire students of the Martial City Academy Palace know about this matter, many people are very envious of you, and of course, there are also many people who are jealous, and there are even people who are ready to kill you.”
Zhang Ruochen looked fearless and said, “Who wants to kill me?”
“Xun Guihai.”
Duanmu Xingling said with a smiling face, “Xun Guihai has already let it be known that if you dare to take the Intermediate Ruins Exploration Exam, he will definitely take your life. Xun Guihai had already prepared a gift to go to the Thousand Waters County Kingdom to propose marriage, but you beat him to it, don’t you know, he’s going to be furious!”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Xun Guihai hating me was expected. After all, Senior Sister Huang was originally pulling me as a shield, and given my situation at the time, I had to go and shield her as well.”
Duanmu Xingling’s face turned serious as she said, “Xun Guihai is the 14th figure in the Xuan Ranking, his strength is even more powerful than you think, you must not take it lightly.”
“It is said that he once killed a Moon Worshipping Demon Sect’s mid Earth Extremity Realm Ruler, and it was that battle that made him famous and became the man of the hour in the Outer Palace of the Martial City School Palace. With his strength, if he wanted to kill you, just one move would be enough.”
“Soldiers come and go, water comes and earth goes. It’s impossible for me not to take the Intermediate Ruins Exploration Exam just because of his words.” Zhang Ruochen said.
After thinking about it, Zhang Ruochen added, “Senior Sister Duanmu, you have been preparing for a long time for taking the Intermediate Ruins Exploration Exam, so you should know the Intermediate Ruins very well, so can you tell me a little bit about what I need to prepare in advance before entering the Intermediate Ruins?”
Duanmu Xingling’s eyes blinked as she slightly moved closer to Zhang Ruochen and said, “Sister Dust didn’t tell you about it?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Senior Sister Huang and I are only nominally engaged, and in reality, my relationship with her isn’t as close as outsiders might think. At least in my opinion, my relationship with Senior Sister Duanmu is a bit more intimate.”
Obviously Zhang Ruochen’s words just now were still quite well received, and after Duanmu Xingling heard it, the smile on her face became even brighter as she said, “Count on it that you’re still good at talking, I thought that you’d forgotten about Senior Sister me when you had a fiancée. Then I’ll start, at the very beginning and tell you about it. Firstly, you must know the origin of those relics.”
“The Kunlun Realm has a history of billions of years, from the very beginning of the Desolate Ancient, followed by the Taikoo, Far Ancient, Middle Ancient, and Near Ancient. In the eternal river of time, countless heroes were born, the darkest and bloodiest wars occurred, and there were also the heydays when all the saints came out.”
“In the history of the Kunlun Realm, I don’t know how many Half-Saints and Saints were born, yet now, they have all passed away, leaving behind only some relics and former residences.”
“The intelligence agency of the Martial Market Chambers, which is spread throughout the entire Kunlun Realm, has recorded all the relics of all the half-saints and saints in history on top of the Handbook of Sacred Sites.”
“Based on the danger level of those relics and the chance of treasures appearing, the relics are subdivided into multiple levels.”
“In fact, with the cultivation level of the Outer Palace disciples, even if they only go to the primary level of the relics to practice, they may still encounter life-threatening dangers. That’s why the Martial City Palace only allows Outer Palace disciples ranked in the top ten of the four academies to take the Intermediate Ruins Exploration Exam. You have to listen clearly, it’s merely an exploration exam, not a training exercise.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “What is the difference between exploration and training?”
Duanmu Xingling laughed, “Exploration means that we only need to go inside the Intermediate Level Ruins to have a look and search for precious treasures. If we can’t beat them, we can escape. However, if it’s an adventure, we have to complete the tasks designated by the Academy Palace, and the level of danger is even greater. Generally speaking, only experts among the inner palace disciples will take the initiative to go and train in the intermediate level relics.”
Duanmu Xingling added, “Within the scope of the entire Heavenly Demon Ridge’s thirty-six counties, there are only two intermediate-level ruins in total. One of them is in the depths of the Heavenly Demon Ridge and is called the ‘Red Sky Secret Mansion’. It is said that the Red Sky Secret Mansion is located deep underground, and is the sacred mansion where the Four-Winged Earth Dragon, the former Lord of the Heavenly Demon Ridge, resided.”
“The cultivation of the Four-Winged Earth Dragon is comparable to that of a Saint amongst human martial artists. When it was alive, it was rampant and dominated a territory of 100,000 miles in a radius, devouring a city of humans from the Human Race every time it fed.”
“Even the current superior county, Thousand Waters County, had to pay tribute to the Four-Winged Earth Dragon every year at that time, sending spirit crystals, silver coins, pills, and blood food. Every year, the Thousand Water County Kingdom had to send millions of human slaves to the Heavenly Demon Ridge to be used as food for the Four-Winged Earth Dragon. If they are not sent, then more humans will die in the Thousand Water County Kingdom.”
“Five hundred years ago, the arrogant four-winged Earth Dragon finally angered Empress Chi Yao, who had just ascended to the throne at the time. With an order, Empress Chi Yao dispatched the First Central Empire’s army to besiege the Heavenly Demon Ridge and subdue the Four-Winged Earth Dragon.”
“In order for the First Central Empire to kill the Four-Winged Earth Dragon and those powerful savage beasts in the Sky Demon Ridge, a shocking battle took place in the Red Sky Secret Mansion.”
“In that battle, a total of two Half-Saints of the Human Race fell, but they killed seven Half-Saint level savage beasts, and even the Four-Winged Earth Dragon died in the Red Sky Secret Mansion. After all the savage beasts above the Half-Saint level died out, the once murderous land of death became a lot more peaceful.”
“Later on, the Martial Market Palace moved into the Heavenly Demon Ridge to help the First Central Empire and suppress the remaining savage beasts in the Heavenly Demon Ridge. At the same time, some human cities that were originally just on the edge of the Heavenly Demon Ridge continued to devour the inhabited territories of the savage beasts, and in the course of hundreds of years of development, countries were formed. Your ancestor, the founding lord of the Yunwu County Kingdom, rose to prominence at that time. The Yunwu County Kingdom, too, was established at that time.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “In other words, the current territory of the 36 County States of the Heavenly Demon Ridge was all a barren mountainous region five hundred years ago, ruled by four-winged Earth Dragons and savage beasts. After five hundred years of development, the human race has grown from some scattered cities and villages at the very beginning to become the thirty-six county states on the outskirts of the Heavenly Demon Ridge.”
Duanmu Xingling nodded and laughed, “Right now, the territory of the thirty-six counties combined is only one-fifth of the Heavenly Demon Ridge’s territory. However, with the strength of the Human Race, in a few hundred years, it will surely completely devour the Savage Beast territory of the Heavenly Demon Ridge, and at that time, perhaps seventy-two county kingdoms, one hundred and eight county kingdoms, or it is possible that they will be completely unified and become a superior county kingdom as powerful as the Thousand Waters County Kingdom.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Aside from the Red Sky Secret Mansion, what about the other intermediate level relic?”
Duanmu Xingling said, “The other intermediate level relic is in the Tonghe River, located at the bottom of the river. It is said that the Four-Winged Earth Dragon established a Dragon Palace at the bottom of the Tong Underworld River, and because the Four-Winged Earth Dragon set up a large formation at the periphery of the Dragon Palace, only martial artists below the Heavenly Extreme Realm are able to enter the Dragon Palace. If one tries to forcibly break the formation from the periphery, they will destroy the Dragon Palace.”
“For hundreds of years, many martial artists have gone in to explore, but when ten people go in, only two or three can come out. The level of danger of the Underwater Dragon Palace is still above the Red Sky Secret Mansion.”
