Yan Qingdao’s greatest strength was her swordsmanship, and earlier, because Zhang Ruochen had taken her by surprise and chopped off her sword, she hadn’t been able to utilise her swordsmanship to her advantage.
For the second encounter, she did not intend to fight Zhang Ruochen hard and was prepared to rationalise her advantage in speed.
“Begin!”
Zhang Ruochen carried the Sinking Abyss Ancient Sword and also made a starting move, standing like a pine, silent and unmoving, giving off an inscrutable feeling.
“Flying Snow Lian Tian.”
Yan Qingdao executed a Spirit Grade Upper Grade Sword Technique, intending to take the initiative to test Zhang Ruochen, forcing him to reveal his cracks.
As Yan Qingdao’s sword got closer and closer to Zhang Ruochen, it looked like Zhang Ruochen was about to be pierced through the heart by Yan Qingdao’s sword.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen swung his sword and chopped, moving like thunder, his sword qi like a waterfall, chopping past Yan Qingdao’s body.
“Boom!”
Yan Qingdao flew out backwards, and it was only when she landed on the ground that her body snapped in two.
The sword in her hand, too, snapped in two.
“So it was only one sword.”
Zhang Ruochen didn’t even look at Yan Qingdao’s Spiritual Void Body as he put away the Sinking Abyss Ancient Sword and walked out of the testing chamber.
Having reached the Earth Extremity Realm’s Great Extremity Position, Zhang Ruochen’s fastest speed had reached two hundred and ninety metres per second, far surpassing Yan Qingdao. Yan Qingdao did not have any advantage at all in terms of speed.
Coupled with the sharpness of the Sinking Abyss Ancient Sword, so he only used one sword to kill Yan Qingdao, who was ranked at the one hundredth position on the Earth Ranking.
At this moment, at the top of The Earth Ranking’s Test Palace, Lei Jing was sitting with a crane-haired old man, just in time to see the image of Zhang Ruochen killing Yan Qingdao with a single sword strike.
That sword just now was so stunning that it almost reached the level of flawlessness.
“The heart of the sword is clear and flawless.”
That one old man sighed, “It’s really powerful, I didn’t expect that the Heavenly Demon Ridge would give birth to such a powerful young hero, if the news is spread back to the headquarters, it’s estimated that even the higher-ups of the Academic Palace and the Money Bank will take notice of him.”
Lei Jing shook his head and said, “Don’t pass the news back to the headquarters yet.”
“Why?” The old man asked.
Lei Jing laughed, “Zhang Ruochen is still only at the cultivation level of the Earth Extreme Realm, and in the eyes of those Half-Saints and Saints, he is just a child! It’s as easy as a slap in the face to kill him. You have to know that the inner circle of the Martial City Palace is not ironclad, in case the news leaks out, it will only bring Zhang Ruochen a killing curse. Therefore, the fewer people who know, the better.”
The old man also nodded and said, “In other words, concealing Zhang Ruochen’s test results? Not spreading the news, back to the headquarters.”
Lei Jing nodded and said, “It’s not about not spreading it, but not spreading it out completely. If people were to know that Zhang Ruochen, who was only at the Earth Extremity Realm’s Great Extremity Position, killed the hundredth ranked expert in the Earth Ranking with just a single sword, it would definitely cause a huge uproar. It would even draw the experts from the Demon Sect and Black Market to kill him at all costs.”
“However, if Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation of the Earth Extremity Realm’s Great Extremity Position was only able to fight against an expert at the one hundredth position of the 《Earth Ranking》, and could only win through a slight advantage. Then, although his natural talent was still very stunning, it hadn’t reached a level that would make the Demon Sect and the Black Market fearful. At that time, even if an expert comes to kill him, old me will be able to help him take it.”
The old man said, “I understand! If Zhang Ruochen was at the Earth Extremity Realm’s Great Extremity Position, he could only fight against the experts at the hundredth position of the Earth Ranking. Then, even if he breaks through to the Earth Extremity Realm Great Extremity, he would still be at most in the top twenty of the 『Earth Rankings』. Although they were still proud of the world’s heroes, they hadn’t yet reached the level of being heaven-defying. After all, every few years, the top twenty of the 《Earth Ranking》 will change a batch of people.”
It was only a difference of one realm, but it was a concept of two levels.
Lei Jing and that one old man had just used another way to hide part of Zhang Ruochen’s strength and natural talent.
Lei Jing said, ”After all, Zhang Ruochen is only a prince of a lower county, so if he wants to reach a higher realm and get the best training, he must have a large amount of cultivation resources. What I can help him with is limited after all, so he must display some of his natural talent and get the attention of the Academy Palace, only then can the Academy Palace hand over more resources to him. Help him and go farther.”
The old man said, “Since that’s the case, let’s advertise to the public that Zhang Ruochen is a martial cultivation of the Earth Extremity Realm’s Great Extremity Position. At the same time, we will only report the results of the first and second actual combat tests to the headquarters, and the results of the third actual combat will simply be pressed down.”
“I’m counting on you old man for this matter.” Lei Jing arched his hand and said.
The old man laughed, “We are all working for the Martial City Money Bank, and I don’t want the Money Bank’s geniuses to be killed in the cradle before they can grow up. I will, right now, transmit today’s test results and battle projections to the Earth Ranking Artifact Spirit Honour.”
This old man in front of him was not a real human, but rather the Earth Ranking Artifact Spirit split.
Transmitting the test results would only lead to Lei Jing also excusing himself and leaving to meet Zhang Ruochen once again.
Lei Jing was in a good mood when he saw Zhang Ruochen and smiled, “Zhang Ruochen, there’s one thing that the old man didn’t discuss with you in advance, it might be a bit presumptuous.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “What is it?”
Lei Jing then told Zhang Ruochen about the decision he had just made with The Earth List’s Artifact Spirit Split.
After hearing this, Zhang Ruochen’s brows Avray furrowed as he said, “It has been transmitted back to the headquarters?”
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen seemed to be very worried, Lei Jing laughed, “You shouldn’t be too nervous, displaying some of your talents is also a good thing, it can gain the attention of the higher-ups of the Academy Palace and give you more cultivation resources. If this really leads to some strong people trying to kill you, I will definitely do my best to protect you.”
Zhang Ruochen was certainly not afraid of being assassinated by an expert, the worry was about another matter.
During the second exertion test, Zhang Ruochen had conversed with Yan Qingdao and mentioned something about Chi Yao’s cultivation, those could be absolute secrets.
Zhang Ruochen wasn’t afraid of being known by the top echelons of the Martial City Academy Palace, after all, in the eyes of those top echelons, that was just the ramblings of a teenager at the Earth Extreme Realm in the district, and wouldn’t be taken to heart at all.
Zhang Ruochen was just afraid, in case the news reached Chi Yao.
If she thought of the name “Zhang Ruochen”, she would definitely not think that it was a coincidence.
Once Chi Yao knew that he was still alive, with Chi Yao’s rising power and unrivalled cultivation, Zhang Ruochen would be dead even if he escaped to the ends of the earth.
“Those words I said were somewhat treacherous, the higher-ups of the Martial City School Palace shouldn’t spread them out, after all, I’m also a member of the Martial City School Palace now. The probability of those words reaching Chi Yao’s ears is quite low, almost negligible.”
Zhang Ruochen exhaled a long breath, trying his best to relax.
“Why do you need to scare yourself, after all, eight hundred years have passed, who still remembers that there was a person named Zhang Ruochen eight hundred years ago? Chi Yao …… might have even forgotten me.”
Ten years was enough to make one forget many things, many people. Not to mention eight hundred years?
Eight hundred years, it was too long!
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen’s face was still a bit off, Lei Jing asked, “Do you have any more worries?”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head and said, “No!”
After thinking for a moment, Zhang Ruochen added, “Can we wait until the next release of the list in three months’ time before I am allowed to enter the Earth Ranking?”
“You want to postpone it for three months?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Once the news of me entering the top 100 of the Earth Ranking spreads out, it will definitely cause a huge uproar in the Heavenly Demon Ridge, and at that time, I’m afraid that the number of people who would want to kill me would be ten times more than what it is now. Therefore, I need three months to consolidate my current cultivation, and strive to further my strength to deal with the more brutal challenges to come.”
Lei Jing’s heart slightly stirred as he said, “Good, postponing it for three months is also a good thing for you. This matter will be handled by the old man! You go back and cultivate at ease, don’t delay your martial arts.”
After Zhang Ruochen returned to the Cultivation Mystery Mansion, he was still a little restless, his mind constantly echoing the words he said in the testing chamber, what kind of consequences would happen in case they reached Chi Yao’s ears?
Sitting cross-legged in the cultivation secret room, Zhang Ruochen’s entire body was like a burning furnace, his skin turning crimson as drops of sweat overflowed and soaked through his clothes.
“No, if I cultivate in this state now, I have to go off the deep end.”
Zhang Ruochen locked his brows, his face was pale, even his lips were very dry and cracked, the meridians of his entire body slightly protruded and became somewhat hideous.
Kong Xuan walked in from outside and noticed Zhang Ruochen’s abnormality, asking with concern, “Master, what’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
Zhang Ruochen put away his true qi and tried to remain calm as he stared at Kong Xuan and said indifferently, “Why did you come in if you weren’t in the middle of comprehending Sword Intent?”
“A woman came outside, saying that she was ordered by Senior Sister Luo to invite Master to Senior Sister Luo’s cultivation residence.” Kong Xuan said.
“Right! I promised Senior Sister Luo that I would exchange martial arts with her, and I almost forgot about this matter!”
Zhang Ruochen rubbed his temples, temporarily putting aside the distracting thoughts of Chi Yao and The Earth Ranking, and said, “Kong Xuan, you don’t need to come over with me, stay behind and continue to comprehend Sword Intent.”
Outside of the cultivation mansion, there stood a sixteen or seventeen year old girl, with a frail figure, very clear, and an aura somewhat similar to Luo Shuihan.
Her martial cultivation had reached the Xuanji realm small extreme position, and she was a genius girl from the Luo clan’s collateral lineage, named Luo Xinyao.
If one were to talk about talent, Luo Xinyao was better than many outer palace trainees and had the qualifications to enter the inner palace academy.
After waiting for a few moments, and still not seeing Zhang Ruochen come out from inside, Luo Xinyao was a little impatient, and said in an atmospheric manner, ”It’s not just an Inner Palace disciple, Senior Sister Luo took the initiative to invite, and you’re actually still putting up a fight. I don’t know how many people, who took the initiative to visit the door can hardly see Senior Sister Luo, what kind of thing are you?”
Although Luo Xinyao was only a collateral line of the Luo Clan, she was also a clan member of the Saint Sect, and naturally didn’t put the Heavenly Demon Ridge’s martial artists in her eyes.
She really couldn’t figure out why Senior Sister Luo thought so highly of this Zhang Ruochen that she took the initiative to invite him to talk about martial arts together.
