“That’s right, it is indeed as easy as a slap in the face for old me to kill Zhang Ruochen. Likewise, it would be an even easier task for old me to kill you.”Hua Qingye said.
Seeing Hua Qing Ye’s pair of ice-cold eyes, Zhang Tian Gui felt an inexplicable chill, a drop of cold sweat welling up on his vest, stopping his footsteps, not daring to move forward any further, and said, “Elder Hua …… why did you say that?”
Hua Qing Ye’s lips grinned, revealing a mouthful of somewhat yellowish teeth as he laughed, “Zhang Ruochen made a deal with Old Man, as long as I can kill you, he will tell Old Man the secrets he is carrying. What do you think, should I believe him? Jiejie!”
Zhang Tiangui’s entire body stiffened as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and he hurriedly said, “Senior Hua, Zhang Ruochen is a trickster, so you mustn’t believe his words. Senior would be best to kill him now, and then, with his head, go to the Young Lord to claim the credit, and the Young Lord will surely reward you heavily.”
Hua Qingye’s brows locked, revealing a contemplative expression.
Zhang Ruochen did not give Hua Qingye time to think, saying, “It’s just a pity that Emperor Yi has already been seriously injured and escaped from the Heavenly Demon Ridge, and even if he could survive, with his status, he shouldn’t come back to such a remote and small place like the Heavenly Demon Ridge in the future. Hua Qingye, you’d better think it over before making a decision. Of course, you can also continue to wait, at most five days, what happened in Tongming River will reach the royal city of the Yunwu County Kingdom. At that time, it won’t be too late for you to decide who to kill.”
Zhang Tiangui hurriedly said, “We can’t wait. Zhang Ruochen is the disciple of Silver-robed Elder Pavilion Pavilion Master Lei Jing, and since Zhang Ruochen has appeared in the royal city, Lei Jing will surely arrive soon.”
Hearing Lei Jing’s name, Hua Qing Ye’s face changed slightly.
Although he and Lei Jing were both at the same cultivation level of the Fish Dragon Realm, he was only at the First Transformation, whereas Lei Jing was already at the cultivation level of the First Transformation of the Fish Dragon fifty years ago, and as for his current realm, it was even more terrifying and far beyond Hua Qing Ye’s ability to compare.
What’s more, he had now broken an arm, his strength was greatly reduced, how could he defeat Lei Jing who was in the peak of his Qi and blood?
Zhang Ruochen saw that Hua Qingye seemed to be moved by Zhang Tiangui’s words, so he added more fuel to the fire and said, “As a sign of sincerity, I can tell you in advance the source of the secret I’m carrying.”
“What source?”
Hua Qingye’s heart fluttered as he hurriedly asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, “I was able to cultivate to the early stage of the Heavenly Extremity Realm in just three years, and moreover, I also reached the Sword Mind Realm, because, of course, I had a huge miraculous encounter.”
Hearing this, not to mention Hua Qing Ye, even Zhang Tian Gui was captivated by Zhang Ruochen’s words and was eager to know the following.
Zhang Ruochen continued without slowing down, “Three years ago, by chance, I was at the Heavenly Demon Ridge and came across an ancient cave from the Middle Ages, in which I obtained the treasures of a holy monk. I was still weak at the time and didn’t go deeper into the ancient cave, taking a white exotic fruit and leaving in a hurry. After that, I don’t know what happened, but my martial cultivation began to soar, and even my physique seemed to have been cleansed by that one foreign fruit, and I was able to cultivate to Sword Heart Passage with ease.”
Without waiting for Zhang Ruochen to finish, a blazing light appeared in Hua Qingye’s eyes, and he hurriedly said, “Could it be that what you swallowed was the legendary holy fruit of the Buddhist Sect, the Bodhi Fruit.”
“I’m not sure, anyway, the shape of that one fruit looks like a holy Buddha sitting cross-legged and reciting sutras.”Zhang Ruochen said.
Zhang Ruochen certainly knew what the Bodhi Fruit was, and even more so, he knew the efficacy of the Bodhi Fruit.
He deliberately made up this lie because he wanted to draw Hua Qing Ye’s thoughts to the Bodhi Fruit.
If he had taken the initiative to say that what he had taken was the Bodhi Fruit, Hua Qingye would definitely not believe it. But if Hua Qingye guessed it himself, he would definitely be convinced.
Not to mention Hua Qing Ye, even Zhang Tian Gui, who was standing at the side, surprisingly believed Zhang Ruochen’s words.
Because, Zhang Tianwei knew Zhang Ruochen the best. Three years ago, Zhang Ruochen was still just a sickly consumptive. If he didn’t have a huge miraculous encounter, how could he have the achievements he had now?
“What an abomination, if I could have come across that ancient cave and swallowed the Bodhi Fruit, I would probably have reached the Heavenly Extremity Realm Grand Circle by now. How could Zhang Ruochen be so lucky?”
Zhang Tiangui stared at Zhang Ruochen with jealous eyes.
However, he was so badly injured that just as he moved his Qi, a sharp pain came from his abdomen and he coughed.
Hua Qing Ye was almost certain that what Zhang Ruochen had taken was the Bodhi Fruit, his whole body trembled with excitement, every nerve throbbing as he rushed to Zhang Ruochen’s face, saying, “Where is that one ancient cave, take me there quickly?”
Zhang Ruochen smiled and looked over towards Zhang Tiangui, saying, “It seems that the conditions you promised me have not been fulfilled.”
Hua Qing Ye’s eyes narrowed as his gaze stared towards Zhang Tian Gui.
Zhang Tiangui’s heart raced as he said, “Senior Hua, don’t listen to Zhang Ruochen’s side of the story, he’s trying to provoke us.”
Hua Qingye hesitated for a moment, but eventually decided to wait for a few more days until the news of the Tongming River came through, then it wouldn’t be too late to kill Zhang Tiangui.
Of course, he was also afraid that Lei Jing would rush to the royal city. Thus, Hua Qing Ye took Zhang Ruochen and Zhang Tian Gui and left the King City, arriving at one of the Black Market’s secret strongholds outside of the King City, settling down and waiting for news.
It was only five days, Hua Qingye could still afford to wait.
This stronghold was only thirty miles away from the King City, so as long as there was any movement in the King City, Hua Qing Ye would be able to find out the news in the first instance.
Hua Qing Ye sealed Zhang Ruochen and Zhang Tian Gui’s meridians and locked them inside a secret room.
That secret room was a cell that had been carefully constructed by the black market, so as long as the stone door was closed and the formation was turned on, not to mention that Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation had already been sealed, even if it wasn’t, he might not be able to escape.
After the stone door was closed, Hua Qing Ye left.
“Cough ……”
Zhang Tiangui was originally badly injured, and after his meridians were sealed, his true qi was unable to flow through his body.
Losing his true qi to protect his body, he was like an ordinary person, lying on the ground with a pale face, unable to move his body, and could only slowly wait for his injuries to recover on their own.
In his most spirited time, he had never imagined that he would also have such a down day.
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes stared coldly and sharply at Zhang Tiangui and did not rush to kill him, moreover, he sat down on the ground and began to cultivate.
Hua Qing Ye was obviously very careful and prudent, not only did he just seal Zhang Ruochen’s meridians with his true qi, he also used a Demon Breaking Needle, which was inserted in the centre of Zhang Ruochen’s eyebrow, sealing Zhang Ruochen’s Qi Sea.
With the double seal, even a Fish Dragon Realm martial artist could only sit in the secret room and wait for death.
It was a pity that Hua Qingye did not expect that Zhang Ruochen had a strange vein, the Blood Spirit Vein, within his body. What’s more, he didn’t expect that Zhang Ruochen had a dragon pearl in his heart.
Zhang Ruochen borrowed the Blood Spirit Vein and absorbed the Holy Dragon’s Qi, quickly opening the sealed meridians.
“A single Demon Breaking Formation wants to seal my Qi Sea, Hua Qingye underestimated me too much!”
Zhang Ruochen closed his hands together and mobilised the Holy Dragon’s power from the Dragon Pearl, converging it towards the Qi Sea, and soon forced the Demon Breaking Needle out by a hair.
The seal of the Qi Sea loosened a little.
As Zhang Ruochen continued to exert force, a nearly transparent silver needle slowly emerged from the centre of his brow and fell to the ground.
Because the silver needle was extremely thin, ten times lighter than the weight of even a single hair, even when it fell to the ground, it did not make a sound.
Completely unsealing, the true qi in the sea of qi immediately surged like a tidal wave to the thirty-six meridians in Zhang Ruochen’s entire body.
With his cultivation restored, Zhang Ruochen’s entire body was filled with strength.
“I must rush to break through to the middle stage of the Heavenly Extremity Realm within five days. As long as the realm breaks through, I will be able to make the power of my Martial Soul, even more powerful. At that time, even if I can’t defeat Hua Qing Ye yet, I’ll at least have a fighting chance.”
Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes tightly and used his Blood Spirit Vein to start absorbing the Holy Dragon Power from the Dragon Pearl.
“Wow…”
On the surface of his body, a faint layer of golden true qi emerged, each strand of true qi resembling a swimming gnarled dragon, containing powerful energy.
After half a day of cultivation, Zhang Ruochen had condensed thirteen drops of True Yuan, and with the True Yuan that was already in his Qi Sea, he now possessed thirty-two drops of True Yuan.
As long as he cultivated one hundred drops of True Yuan, he would be able to impact the middle stage of the Heavenly Extremity Realm.
Originally, it was a rather slow thing for a martial artist to condense true essence. To Zhang Ruochen, it was as easy as drinking plain water.
Because, he had the Dragon Pearl.
One must know that back then, Si Xingkong, Chang Qiqi and the others had directly broken through from the early stage of the Heavenly Extremity Realm to the middle stage of the Heavenly Extremity Realm by simply fusing a drop of dragon blood.
What Zhang Ruochen had obtained was a dragon pearl, which was many times higher than the power contained in a single drop of dragon blood.
As long as Zhang Ruochen actively absorbed the Holy Dragon’s Qi from the dragon pearl, he could condense his true essence very easily.
“Golden Dragon Elder’s Dragon Pearl, it’s really something good, the speed of cultivation increase is even faster than I imagined.”
If he could keep raising his cultivation at this rate, Zhang Ruochen was confident that within three days, he would be able to break through to the middle stage of the Heavenly Extreme Realm.
Zhang Tiangui was lying on the ground and was shocked when he saw the golden aura emanating from Zhang Ruochen’s body.
He knew that Zhang Ruochen had broken through the seal.
“You …… you ……”
Zhang Tiangui seemed to want to say something, but he couldn’t even say a complete sentence because he was too badly injured.
Earlier, there was still true qi protecting the five viscera and six bowels, so Zhang Tiangui could still barely walk. After the true qi was sealed, Zhang Tiangui’s injuries became more and more serious, and his face was as white as a dead man’s.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Zhang Tiangui and once again, killing intent arose in his eyes, so he stopped his cultivation and stood up.
“Wow!”
His right palm rotated a bit, and with a strand of true qi, he sucked up the Demon Breaking Needle on the ground and held it between his two fingers as he walked over towards Zhang Tiangui.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen walk over, Zhang Tiangui’s pupils continued to dilate and his entire body convulsed as the look on his face grew more and more terrified.
Walking over to him, Zhang Ruochen squatted down and looked at him from a close distance, saying, “Zhang Tiangui, should you pay for your life after killing someone?”
Zhang Tiangui shook his head vigorously and said intermittently, “Nine …… nine brothers, father …… king …… was not killed by me…… I was also forced, it was Hua Qing Ye, it was Hua Qing Ye and Emperor Yi who forced me to do this, I am also saddened by the death of Father King ……”
