Zhang Ruochen took a Sacred Nirvana Pill for healing into Zhang Shaochu’s mouth, carried him on his back, and walked in the direction of the Dragon Martial Hall.
Duanmu Xingling, with her hands behind her back and holding her rounded puffy peaks, walked behind Zhang Ruochen, staring at Zhang Shaochu with some disdain, a pair of eyebrows furrowed tightly as she said, “Zhang Ruochen, is he really your brother? How can I see that he doesn’t look like a prince!”
Zhang Ruochen had seen the eighth prince, sixth prince, fifth prince, and third prince, but in their bodies, he couldn’t feel the affection between brothers at all.
Although, Zhang Shaochu was not as handsome as those princes, but he dared to stand up and help Zhang Ruochen when he was in the most danger and in need of help, just based on this, it was worthwhile for Zhang Ruochen to call him Fourth Brother.
Duanmu Xingling added, “Zhang Ruochen, you’re not going to carry this fatty to the Dragon Martial Hall, are you?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “He is seriously injured, can’t I take him back to nurse his wounds?”
Duanmu Xingling immediately stopped in front of Zhang Ruochen, crossed her arms and said, “No, men are not allowed to enter the Dragon Martial Hall.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Who stipulated that?”
“It’s the rules of the Western Academy!” Duanmu Xingling’s face tilted in a condescending manner.
Zhang Ruochen simply ignored her, walking past her and into the gate of the Dragon Martial Hall, “If I can enter the Dragon Martial Hall, Fourth Brother can naturally enter the Dragon Martial Hall as well.”
Duanmu Xingling chased after her and said, “The only reason why we didn’t make things difficult for you is because, your talent has been recognised by us. Otherwise, you would have been able to walk out of the Dragon Martial Hall unharmed last night?”
Zhang Ruochen acted as if he couldn’t hear Duanmu Xingling’s words and walked directly towards the Yellow Character Number One.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen stopped in his tracks and let out a soft eek from his mouth as he stared at the plaque above him and said, “Strange! This is clearly the Yellow Character No. 1, how did it turn into the Earth Character No. 1?”
The plaque above the side hall really did read “Earth Character No. 1”.
Zhang Ruochen’s memory was quite strong, and he was certain that he hadn’t made a wrong turn. Then, there was only one possibility – the plaque above the side hall had been changed.
Who would be so bored as to change the plaques of the first Earth Character and the first Yellow Character?
Zhang Ruochen took out the bronze key and inserted it into the lock hole, finding that the lock would not open either. Obviously, the lock had been changed as well.
An unnatural look appeared on Duanmu Xingling’s face, her eyes blinking gently as she whispered, “Zhang Ruochen, you’re going the wrong way, Yellow Character No. 1 is on the opposite side of the street, and this is Earth Character No. 1, the place where Sister Dust lives.”
“Impossible, last night, this is where I came, there will never be a mistake.” Zhang Ruochen firmly said.
Duanmu Xingling said, “Maybe, it was too dark last night and you remembered the wrong way!”
“There is no such possibility.”
Zhang Ruochen pulled out the bronze key, turned around, stared at Duanmu Xingling, and said, “If this is the Earth Character No. 1, then there is only one possibility… Last night, someone changed the plaques and door locks of both the Earth Character No. 1 and the Yellow Character No. 1, in an attempt to lure me into the Earth Character No. 1. Am I right?”
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes were firmly fixed on Duanmu Xingling.
Duanmu Xingling did something wrong, her eyes staring at the ground as she said, “Who would be that bored?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “In the Western Courtyard, no one dares to break into the Dragon Martial Hall, outsiders simply don’t dare to come in. There are only three female devils residing in the Dragon Martial Hall, namely Luo Shuihan, Huang Yichen, and Duanmu Xingling. Huang Yichen naturally wouldn’t do this, so the only people who would do this would be you and Luo Shuihan. Who exactly is it? Let’s go ask Luo Shuihan and we won’t have the result!”
“No need, it’s me!”
Duanmu Xingling finally admitted it, struggling to squeeze out a smile, saying, “Actually, I just wanted to joke around with you guys, no one expected to cause an unmanageable situation like last night.”
Zhang Ruochen let out a sigh and said, “I thought you were strange when I saw you this morning, so it really was you. Why did you do that? Do you know that last night almost got me killed, and almost got Huang Yichen killed as well?”
Everything came out in truth!
Duanmu Xingling also felt a little guilty and put on a very pitiful look, saying, “All said and done, people just wanted to joke with you guys, who would have thought that you would go and peek at Sister Dust’s bath? Besides …… you picked up a big bargain. Right! What exactly happened between you and Sister Dust last night? When I went to see her, she kept crying, I’ve never seen her cry before.”
Zhang Ruochen’s heart felt a little guilty, after all, it was really him who misunderstood Huang Yichen last night, and even beat her up.
To really say it, the person who was most wronged was Huang Yichen.
Zhang Ruochen said, “A Xuan Ranked Martial Artist, or a recognised female devil, she would even cry?”
Duanmu Xingling nodded her head vigorously and said, “Really cried, cried sadly. Did you do something worse than a beast to her after beating her to death?”
“She told you so?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“Of course not.”
Duanmu Xingling added, “I asked, but she didn’t say. That’s why I asked you!”
Last night, Zhang Ruochen had, after all, looked at Huang Yichen’s entire body, and, moreover, he had also beaten her to the point of serious injury. Zhang Ruochen pondered slightly and said, “It’s me who’s sorry for her.”
“You really did something worse than a beast to her?” Duanmu Xingling widened her eyes, revealing a surprised expression.
“Perhaps it counts!” Zhang Ruochen nodded gently.
In fact, Zhang Ruochen was a rather innocent teenager, so he didn’t really understand what Duanmu Xingling had said about beasts being worse than animals.
In his previous life, he had been intoxicated with martial arts and rarely came into contact with men and women. Even if he had fallen in love with Princess Chi Yao, it was a rather pure romance, and at most, they only held each other’s hands.
Therefore, he didn’t even know as much as Duanmu Xingling in matters above male-female relationships.
Zhang Ruochen said, “I’d better go and explain it clearly to her face to face!”
“Don’t.”
Duanmu Xingling stopped Zhang Ruochen once again and said, “If Sister Dust knew that it was because of me that she was put in that state. She would definitely hate me to death!”
Zhang Ruochen stared at Duanmu Xingling and said, “Wouldn’t that mean that I have to take the blame all the time?”
Duanmu Xingling thought for a moment and added, “Besides, there’s no use for you to go and explain now, she hates to kill you when she sees you. If she wants to kill you, all she needs to do is move her finger, and she will still listen to your explanation? How about this, let’s make a deal, you help me hide what happened last night, and I’ll help you persuade Sister Dust to let her spare your life. How about that?”
“She really has to kill me?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Duanmu Xingling nodded and said, “Who asked you to do …… something like that to her, if it was me, I would also definitely want to break you into pieces. Of course, if I were to put in a few good words for you and persuade her, maybe she would let you go.”
“And she’ll let me off that easily?” Zhang Ruochen said.
Duanmu Xingling laughed, “Although Sister Dust is called a ‘female devil’ and an ‘iceberg beauty’ by those trainees, I know that she has always loved geniuses with the highest natural talent, and swore to marry the best man in the world. ”
“For example, Zhang Tiangui, the number one heavenly pride of the thirty-six counties of the Heavenly Demon Ridge, has always been on her lips, praising him endlessly. Your natural talent is not bad, although it’s a bit inferior to Zhang Tiangui, but as long as you’re willing to work hard, your future achievements will definitely not be low.”
“Sister Dust might still take a fancy to you, at that time, you will be able to save your life as well as hold on to a beautiful woman, why not? Hehe! After all, you guys are already like that!”
“Seventh Prince, Zhang Tiangui!” Zhang Ruochen recited.
Duanmu Xingling’s eyes lit up and said, “Right! How did I forget, Zhang Tiangui is the Seventh Prince of the Yunwu County Kingdom, exactly your seventh brother.”
“The first genius of the 36 counties of the Heavenly Demon Ridge?” Zhang Ruochen said.
A rare look of admiration appeared in Duanmu Xingling’s eyes as he said, “Zhang Yougui is much stronger than you! When he was sixteen years old, he had already reached the third in the Xuan Ranking, becoming the head of the younger generation.”
“At the age of seventeen, he broke through the Earth Extreme Realm and became an inner disciple of the Yuntai Sect House with a first place finish.”
“Now that he’s twenty years old, no one knows how far his cultivation has reached again? Such a heavenly pride, it’s rare for one to come out in a hundred years. Zhang Ruochen, you only reached the middle stage of the Xuanji Realm at the age of sixteen, you’re far from that one seventh brother of yours.”
Zhang Ruochen said indifferently, “One day, I will surpass him.”
“Right! If you have this kind of motivation, with your natural talent, if you cultivate for another three or five years, you will definitely be able to become a Xuan Ranked Martial Artist as well. When you become a Xuan Ranked Martial Artist, Sister Dust will definitely be impressed.” Duanmu Xingling gently pursed her lips and laughed, “What happened earlier, why don’t we make a deal!”
Zhang Ruochen thought about it and said, “Alright! That’s how it’s going to be for the time being! I’m going to take Fourth Brother to Yellow Character No. 1 to recuperate, you don’t have any opinions now, do you?”
“No opinion, of course I have no opinion.” Duanmu Xingling laughed.
Zhang Ruochen carried Zhang Shaochu on his back to the Yellow Character No. 1, placed Zhang Shaochu on the bed, and smeared the Sinew Breaking Cream on his arms.
Although, Zhang Shaochu’s bones in both arms were broken, but a martial artist’s physique was much stronger than an ordinary person’s, and with the medicinal power of the Tendon Bone Breaking Cream, it would only take half a month at most for the bones in both arms to recover as before.
“Zhang Tiangui!”
Zhang Ruochen pronounced these three words once, and then, shook his head again.
The most important thing for him right now was to prepare for his battle with Feng Zhilin at the Life and Death Stage a month later.
Feng Zhilin was at the Xuan Extremity Realm’s Great Extremity Position, and Zhang Ruochen would only have a chance to defeat Feng Zhilin if he raised his cultivation to the late Xuan Extremity Realm.
A month’s time to break through to the late Xuan Extremity Realm, other martial artists might not be able to do it, but Zhang Ruochen would definitely be able to do it.
Because, he had the Sometimes Empty Crystal Stone.
Three months of cultivation inside the Time and Space Crystal Stone, only one month would pass outside. In other words, Zhang Ruochen had three months of cultivation time.
“With the abundant cultivation resources on me, it’s not difficult to reach the late Xuanji Realm within three months.”
“My biggest weakness right now is my martial skills. In three months’ time, if I can successfully cultivate the fourth palm of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Palm, or if I can successfully cultivate the entire set of Heavenly Heart Sword Technique, then it will be a breeze to defeat Feng Zhilin!”
Thinking of this, Zhang Ruochen entered the inner space of the Space-Time Crystal Stone and began to cultivate.
