When Vice Academy Master Qing Hua saw Zhang Ruochen walking out, his originally cloudy eyes flashed with a hint of brightness, his voice hoarse as he laughed, “Zhang Ruochen, this Intermediate Mystical Exploration Examination, you have gained quite a lot! Has your martial cultivation reached the Xuanji Realm Grand Circle?”
Zhang Ruochen bowed slightly to Vice Academy Master Qing Hua, appearing courteous, and said, “Reporting back to the Vice Academy Master, the student has indeed reached the Great Circle of the Xuanji Realm.”
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua nodded, a look of admiration appearing in her eyes.
She was quite satisfied with Zhang Ruochen, not only was this son’s spiritual power strong, his martial arts talent was also far superior to other geniuses and juniors, his future achievements would definitely be above her own.
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua said, “You’ve been in the Western Academy for less than half a year, right?”
“Yes!” Zhang Ruochen said.
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua’s eyes became serious as he said, “In less than half a year, you have cultivated from the early Xuan Extreme Realm to the Great Circle of the Xuan Extreme Realm. Your cultivation has risen too quickly!”
Zhang Ruochen understood what Vice-Ancestor Qing Hua meant; raising one’s cultivation too quickly meant that one’s foundation was not solid. Martial cultivation was a long road, and if the foundation was not solid, it would not be half beneficial to Zhang Ruochen’s future cultivation.
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua had high expectations for Zhang Ruochen and did not want Zhang Ruochen to be ruined on top of his foundation, saying in a serious tone, “In the early stages of martial dao cultivation, the role played by cultivation resources is quite large. An ordinary genius with enough cultivation resources will also cultivate quite fast.”
“Thirty years ago, the Western Academy gave birth to a person of supreme talent, reaching the Xuan Extreme Realm at the young age of twelve, the Earth Extreme Realm at thirteen, and the Earth Extreme Realm Grand Completion at fifteen, shocking the entire Heavenly Demon Ridge’s thirty-six counties. At that time, all the elders of the academy praised him and thought that he was able to reach the Half-Saint realm, and even had hopes of being sealed as a Saint.”
Zhang Ruochen asked, “What happened afterwards?”
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua sighed, shook his head, and said, “Cultivating too quickly led to an unstable foundation, and his progress in the later stages of cultivation became extremely slow. After turning fifteen, it took him another fifteen years to reach the Heavenly Extremity Realm.”
“Those talented students who were once his peers have already gone ahead of him, yet he is still at the early stage of the Heavenly Extremity Realm. Not to mention becoming a Half-Saint, even if he can reach the late stage of the Heavenly Extreme Realm, it’s a big question mark.”
Zhang Ruochen could feel the regret of the Qing Hua Vice Academy Master, it was a deep disappointment.
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua’s gaze stared over towards Zhang Ruochen again as he said, “That’s why you shouldn’t rush to impact the Earth Extremity Realm, first stabilise yourself at the Xuan Extremity Realm Great Circle for two years, refining the True Qi in your body and improving the purity of your True Qi. At the same time, he also needs to refine his physique, making himself as indestructible as a rock. Only by laying a solid foundation will you be able to go farther on the path of martial arts in the future.”
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua didn’t know that Zhang Ruochen possessed the Space-Time Crystal Stone and thought that Zhang Ruochen had only been cultivating for half a year, so he was worried that Zhang Ruochen would go astray.
In reality, with the time power of the Time and Space Crystal Stone, Zhang Ruochen had already cultivated in the Xuanji Realm for more than a year.
Of course, Vice Academy Master Qing Hua’s words were not without reason. Zhang Ruochen did not intend to break through to the Earth Extreme Realm in a hurry either, and was prepared to continue to refine himself and take this opportunity to impact the Supreme Extreme Realm of the Xuan Extreme Realm.
The time Zhang Ruochen had set for himself was one year, and if he was unable to reach the Supreme Extreme Realm of the Xuan Extreme Realm within a year, he would have to break through to the Earth Extreme Realm.
The younger one was, the faster one could cultivate.
Zhang Ruochen had already wasted sixteen years, and now that he was seventeen, he didn’t have time to waste any more.
“One year, with the time power of the Time Crystal Stone, is three years. Using three years to build a foundation should be enough.” Zhang Ruochen’s mind thought so.
If he couldn’t break through to the Supreme Extremity Realm of the Xuan Extremity Realm even after spending three years, then that meant that it was impossible for him to reach that realm, and there was no point in wasting more time.
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua laughed, “Zhang Ruochen, I have high expectations of you, I hope that two years from now, you will be able to become the number one in the Xuan Ranking, and overwhelm that first genius of the Yuntai Sect Mansion, Zhang Tiangui, on top of his talent. Do you have any confidence?”
“The student will definitely not let the Vice Academy Master down.”
Zhang Ruochen certainly had the confidence to become number one in the Xuan Ranking even if he went to the Martial Market Fighting Arena right now.
However, after experiencing several assassination incidents, Zhang Ruochen had already seen the situation clearly, he was no longer the son of the Ming Emperor that he once was, but rather a prince of a lower class county.
If his natural talent was too counter-intuitive, he would surely be hated by people who would kill him in the cradle at all costs.
If he could keep a low profile, he would try to keep a low profile.
If it wasn’t necessary, he didn’t want to compete for the rankings of the Xuan Ranking.
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua said, ”If you are able to become number one on the Xuan Ranking, you will be rewarded with a huge amount of silver coins. When you reach the Earth Extremity Realm, you’ll be able to use those silver coins and purchase cultivation resources, allowing you to cultivate very quickly even at the Earth Extremity Realm.”
“Of course, it’s never easy to reach number one on the Xuan Ranking, even Zhang Tiangui only reached number three on the Xuan Ranking, and Luo Shuihan only reached number two on the Xuan Ranking. They are all one step short!”
Zhang Ruochen was slightly surprised and said, “Senior Sister Luo isn’t sixth on the Xuan Ranking, when did she reach second on the Xuan Ranking?”
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua said, “Before entering the Intermediate Ruins Exploration Examination, Luo Shuihan had a secret duel with Wang Tong, who was ranked second on the 『Xuan Ranking』, and defeated Wang Tong after a thousand moves. There are no more than ten people who know about this matter. The Luo Family placed a gag order, so this matter was not announced to the public.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Since Senior Sister Luo was able to defeat Wang Tong, why didn’t she go and challenge Yan Lixuan, the number one in the Xuan Ranking?”
“It’s impossible to succeed.”
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua shook his head and said, “Yan Lixuan’s strength is too much higher than Wang Tong’s, and he has been at number one on the Xuan Ranking for twenty years, so no one can shake him. If Luo Shuihan doesn’t break through the Earth Extreme Realm and cultivate for another three years, she might only have a chance to defeat Yan Lixuan. But she can’t wait that long, and there’s no need for her to necessarily compete for number one on the Xuan Ranking.”
Luo Shuihan also didn’t want to drag her feet for too long at the Xuan Extreme Realm.
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua laughed, “Huang Yichen and Duanmu Xingling also have some secret battle records, because the forces behind them had some requirements, so, they didn’t publish their battle records, and anyway, they also possess the strength of the top ten of the Xuan Ranking. It can be said that your generation is the most outstanding generation in the Western Academy in the past few hundred years, and I hope that your martial arts achievements are more than just the Heavenly Extremity Realm.”
Zhang Ruochen asked with some curiosity, “Senior Sister Duanmu also has forces behind her?”
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua laughed, “Luo Shuihan, Huang Yichen, and Duanmu Xingling, the reason why the three of them are known as the Three Great Female Devils of the Western Academy, and even the Elders of the Western Academy can’t control them, is not just because of their talent, but also because of the huge power behind them. Therefore, they could do things recklessly and no one dared to mess with them. Even if they break their legs by them, they can only endure it and don’t dare to complain to the academy’s elders at all.”
“The power behind Luo Shuihan is the Saint Family Luo Family. The Saint Lord of the Luo Family, Luo Xu, was once the number one heavenly pride of the Western Academy, not only did he found the Luo Family, but he is still alive to this day. A family with a Saint in attendance, who would dare to offend? Of course, the Luo Family’s power isn’t in the thirty-six counties of the Heavenly Demon Ridge, and you can’t even imagine the Luo Family’s strength right now.”
“The power behind Huang Smokey is also very powerful, it’s not just as simple as being the county king of the Thousand Water County Kingdom. Of all the county lords and princes of the Thousand Water County King, why do they value Huang Yichen the most? The main reason was that Huang Yichen’s mother’s maiden family possessed a very large amount of power. Even the Thousand Waters County King only ascended to the County King position by borrowing the power of Huang Yichen’s mother’s maiden family.”
“Do you know why Huang Yichen didn’t cultivate in the Thousand Water County Kingdom’s Martial City Palace of Learning, but instead came to the Heavenly Demon Ridge’s Martial City Palace of Learning? That’s because the Grand Palace Master of the Heavenly Demon Ridge’s Martial Market Academy Palace is her mother’s elder brother, Huang Yichen’s uncle. With this relationship, who dares to mess with her in the Martial City School Palace of the Sky Demon Ridge?”
“As for Duanmu Xingling, her situation is rather special. I also only know that she was sent to the Western Academy by a Half-Saint’s disciple, and it was said that she was allowed to study at the Martial City Academic Palace to take advantage of the powerful and competitive environment of the Martial City Academic Palace, so that she could be better cultivated.
Zhang Ruochen thought that his relationship with them was quite good until today, when he realised that he still knew very little about them.
Perhaps in their eyes, Zhang Ruochen was not yet qualified to enter their circle, so there were some things that he did not tell Zhang Ruochen.
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua laughed, “Zhang Ruochen, your engagement to Huang Yichen will have endless benefits for you in the future, but of course, there are also endless disadvantages.”
Zhang Ruochen frowned slightly and said, “Why would the Vice Academy Master say that?”
“When you enter the Inner Palace, you will know exactly how many people are pursuing Huang Yichen, and those who challenge you will appear one after another until they defeat you or kill you.”
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua said, “Some of the words I said to you today, you’d better rot inside your stomach and not speak them out. After speaking it out, it will do you no good.”
“Student understands.” Zhang Ruochen said.
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua added after a pause, “You are now the number one expert in the Western Academy, and you deserve to be in the number one Tian Zi. In addition, there are two other people who will also enter the Dragon Martial Hall and become newcomers to the Dragon Martial Hall, you should take care of them more in the future. Zixi, Yao Qingtong, you guys come in!”
Zixi and Yao Qingtong walked in from outside, slightly arching their hands in obeisance, saying, “Greetings to the Vice Academy Master, meet Eldest Senior Brother.”
Zixi, needless to say, at the time of freshmen enrolment, even if she was at the Xuan Extremity Realm Minor Extremity Position and had broken through the first level of the third floor of the Martial Tower, she was definitely qualified to enter the Dragon Martial Hall.
Yao Qingtong was also a freshman from the same class as Zhang Ruochen and Zixi, also enrolled at the Xuan Extremity Realm Small Extremity Level and broke through the first level of the third floor of the Martial Tower, her natural talent was not above Zixi’s, and her cultivation had already reached the Xuan Extremity Realm Large Extremity Level.
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua said, ”Zi Xi, you will be the number one Earth Character of the Dragon Martial Hall in the future. Yao Qingtong, you are the number one Xuan character of the Dragon Martial Hall. I hope that you guys can grow up as quickly as possible and become Xuan Ranking martial artists within a year.”
Vice Academy Master Qing Hua glanced slightly towards Zhang Ruochen and said, “As the eldest senior brother, aren’t you going to give the two senior sisters a meet and greet gift when they enter the Dragon Martial Hall?”
