Returning to the inn, Zhang Ruochen entered the inner space of the Space-Time Crystal Stone and began to cultivate.
Even if he had to stay in the King City for two days as Chen Ruochen, he still had to utilise these two days wisely and not waste them.
“Since I can’t find the Divine Amphibious Grass, the only way is to refine the Three-Leafed Sacred Qi Grass, and try to raise my cultivation to the late Earth Extremity Realm at the fastest speed possible.”
The Three Leaf Sacred Qi Grass, which only grew in the land where Half-Saints had fallen, absorbed the sacred power of Half-Saints all year round and possessed the medicinal power to enhance their physique and cultivation.
Right now, Zhang Ruochen still had fifty-three Three Leaf Sacred Qi Grasses left, so as long as he refined them all, he still had the hope of breaking through to the late stage of the Earth Extremity Realm within a short period of time.
According to Zhang Ruochen’s calculations, if he wanted to completely refine the medicinal power of the fifty-three Three Leaf Sacred Qi Grasses and transform them into power that belonged to him, he would need at least four months.
For other Earth Extreme Realm martial artists, spending four months to break through a realm was already considered quite fast. However, for the current Zhang Ruochen, it was still too slow.
“Four months, even if we borrow the time power of the Time Crystal Stone, it will still take almost a month and a half.”
Zhang Ruochen was quite clear about his current situation, a month and a half was not long to say the least, and not short to say the least. The times were changing, and no one knew what the next step would be, what situation would it be?
There was no other way to think about it now, but to cultivate hard and try to raise his martial arts cultivation as much as possible.
Zhang Ruochen separated three of the Three Leaf Sacred Qi Grasses and placed them inside another jade box, preparing to bring them back to the Royal Palace and give them to the Nine County Lords.
The medicinal power of the Three Leaf Sacred Qi Grass was no longer very obvious to Zhang Ruochen. However, the Nine County Lord was only at the Xuan Extreme Realm cultivation now, to her, even just a single Three Leaf Sacred Qi Grass was a priceless treasure that could quench her martial body and expand her Qi Lake.
Spending six days in the inner space of the Space-Time Crystal Stone, Zhang Ruochen refined four Three Leaf Sacred Qi Grasses in a row. There was no significant increase in martial cultivation, it was just thicker and purer than before.
“Fifty Three Leaf Sacred Qi Grasses are what will help me break through the realm. By the time my cultivation reaches the late stage of the Earth Extreme Realm, it is estimated that the Three Leaf Sacred Qi Grass will be of even more minimal use to me.”
Martial cultivation was supposed to be one step at a time, requiring a gradual progression.
However, Zhang Ruochen had embarked on a different path, which was to raise his cultivation level at the fastest speed possible through the most expensive cultivation resources.
At the same time, he was also using pills and holy power to quench his physique, strengthen his physical body, and expand his Qi Sea. It could be said that Zhang Ruochen was spending blood and money on improving his physique.
This path was simply not desirable for others.
Firstly, the consumption of cultivation resources was a huge number.
For example: fifty Three Leaf Sacred Qi Grasses were worth up to fifteen million silver coins, yet Zhang Ruochen only used them to break through to the late stage of the Earth Extremity Realm.
To consume resources like this, even Huang Yichen, whose family had a strong background, could not afford to consume them at all.
Secondly, Zhang Ruochen had already cultivated a Martial Soul, and with his strong spiritual power, his understanding of the Martial Dao had already reached the level of the Heavenly Extremity Realm’s Great Perfection. That was why he dared to refine the cultivation resources without any fear and break through the realm at the fastest speed.
This was Zhang Ruochen’s greatest advantage!
If it were any other martial artist who dared to cultivate like him, he would have already gone off the deep end.
Martial cultivation was like filling a barrel with water. For other martial artists, not only did they have to add water to the barrel, but they also had to keep adding wooden planks to make the barrel taller, so that it could hold more water.
However, Zhang Ruochen already had a wooden barrel, only that the water in the barrel had been emptied. Therefore, even if he were to start from scratch, he would only need to add water to the barrel, and he wouldn’t need to worry about whether or not the barrel would fit.
In other words, until he reached the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Extremity Realm, Zhang Ruochen’s path of cultivation was a straight one, without any obstacles.
“It’s time to go back to the King’s Palace!”
Zhang Ruochen took off the metal mask from his face and changed into a set of brocade robes of the inner palace trainees of the Martial City Academy Palace, hired a carriage and travelled straight in the direction of the royal palace.
“His Highness the Ninth Prince has returned!”
“His Highness the Ninth Prince has returned to the palace!”
……
The news of Zhang Ruochen’s return quickly spread throughout the royal palace.
In the first instance, Zhang Ruochen headed to the Jade Rinse Palace to pay his respects to Concubine Lin.
Those palace maids of the Jade Rinse Palace, upon seeing Zhang Ruochen, revealed eyes of awe and adoration, immediately kneeling down and saluting with incomparable respect.
When mother and son met, naturally, there was another bout of shushing and parenting. Concubine Lin squeezed Zhang Ruochen’s hand and refused to let go for a long time, saying with tears in her eyes, “It’s good that Duan’er …… is back, it’s good that he’s back.”
“I should have taken more time to come back to see my mother.” Zhang Ruochen looked at Concubine Lin, finally feeling the warmth of kinship in his heart.
After Zhang Ruochen was in the Martial City Academy, showed exceptional talent, and was engaged to the Smoky Dust County Princess of the Thousand Waters County Kingdom, Concubine Lin’s status in the royal palace gradually became higher, and every month, she could receive some Body Refining Treasure Pills that could only be taken by martial artists.
In the last year, Consort Lin’s complexion had become much better, like she was ten years younger.
“It’s just a pity that Mother hasn’t opened the Divine Martial Seal, otherwise, I would have some cultivation resources that I could give to Mother.” Zhang Ruochen said.
Concubine Lin gently touched Zhang Ruochen’s head, pursed her lips, and said, “Cultivation resources are already very expensive, so keep them for yourself, as long as you can become a strong martial arts practitioner, Mother is happier than anything else.”
A petulant voice, came from outside, “Ninth brother, ninth brother, back to the royal palace, also do not come to …… Concubine Lin is also in ……”
The Ninth County Chief Yu Xi stormed in from outside, after seeing Consort Lin, he was first slightly startled, grinned, and immediately became meek, respectfully bowing to Consort Lin.
Zhang Ruochen gently patted Consort Lin’s hand and said, “Mother, I have something to talk to Ninth Sister beforehand, and in the evening, I’ll come back to dine with Mother.”
Concubine Lin smiled and nodded, saying, “You go!”
Zhang Ruochen pulled the Ninth Sheriff Lord and walked out of the Jade Rinse Palace with a faint smile, “Ninth sister, how is your cultivation of the Heavenly River Jade Scripture going? Is there anything you can’t understand?”
The Heavenly River Jade Scripture was passed down from Zhang Ruochen to the Ninth County Mistress, a Ghost Grade Lower Grade technique that definitely belonged to the topmost defeated technique in the Heavenly Demon Ridge’s thirty-six county kingdoms.
The Nine County Lord tilted her chin and arrogantly said, ”I’ve already cultivated to the second layer and my martial cultivation has crossed over into the late Xuanji Realm, half a year from now, when the Martial City Academy enrolls students, I’m going to enroll as well. At that time, we’ll both be students of the Martial City Academy Palace, and we’ll still have to call you Senior Brother. Hehe!”
“Only at the late Xuanji Realm ……”
Zhang Ruochen frowned slightly and said, “Lin Mishan has already reached the Xuan Extremity Realm Minor Extremity Position, one realm higher than you. In this year’s End of Year Examination, you’re definitely no match for her.”
“Then how can we compare? Lin Mishan has worshipped in the martial arts holy land, the Yuntai Zongfu, and her martial arts cultivation will naturally advance by leaps and bounds.” The Nine County Lord glanced at her mouth and said with some dissatisfaction.
Zhang Ruochen said, “But you cultivate a Ghost Grade Lower Grade technique, which is many times more superior than the technique she cultivates. What’s going on, tell me clearly?”
The Ninth County Lord spat out her tongue and said, “Is there such a thing as talking to your sister like that? Fine! I’ll be honest then, I actually wanted to go and compete for the number one spot in the Yellow Ranking, so I delayed in the Yellow Extreme Realm for an extra half year.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Did you earn the number one spot on the Yellow Ranking?”
“Of course, I have opened up twenty-two meridians, so how humiliating would it be if I couldn’t even compete for the number one spot on the 《Yellow Ranking》?” The Nine County Lord said with a smiling face.
Even the Seventh Prince Zhang Tiangui, who was known as the number one genius of the thirty-six counties of the Heavenly Demon Ridge, had only opened up twenty-three meridians. She was only one meridian less than Zhang Tiangui, so she was naturally very proud in her heart.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head and said, “The techniques that you and the Seventh Prince cultivate are both of the lower grade of the Ghost Grade, and even the Six Mysteries Sacred Technique that the Seventh Prince cultivates is not as good as the Jade River Heavenly Scripture, and yet you’ve opened up even one less meridian than him, so what’s there to be proud of?”
The Ninth County Lord crossed her arms and glared with her eyes as she said, “Seventh Brother is the number one genius of the thirty-six counties of the Heavenly Demon Ridge, how can I possibly be compared to him? Even if I opened up the same number of meridians as he did, there’s no way I could be his match.”
It had to be said that Zhang Tian Gui’s natural talent was indeed far superior to the Nine County Lords and Zhang Ruochen, only that he was born in the Yunwu County Kingdom and couldn’t get the topmost gong methods, so that was why he was only at his current level.
Seeing the Nine County Lord’s look, Zhang Ruochen really couldn’t get angry and said, ”In the future, remember, the so-called list, if you can compete, then go for it, if you can’t, there’s no need to delay your cultivation time to compete hard. Sedimenting in the Yellow Extreme Realm for a while longer won’t do you any harm, I won’t pursue this matter any further, so don’t be so capricious in the future.”
With that, Zhang Ruochen took out a jade box and handed it to the Nine Counties Lord, saying, “There are a total of three Three Leaf Sacred Qi Grasses in there, if you are able to refine all of them, I guarantee that your physique will be able to improve by a large amount once again, although it still won’t be able to compare to the Seven Princes and I during the same period of cultivation, you will be able to at least reach the Two Extremities, or even the Two and a Half Extremities.”
“What two absolute? What two absolute and a half?” The Nine Counties Lord asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, “When you enter the Martial City Academy, you will naturally understand.”
In the distance, there was a series of footsteps, and Zhang Ruochen felt something in his heart and immediately looked towards the gate of the garden.
A spirited and handsome man in a golden robe, looking to be in his early twenties, with thick eyebrows, a face like a knife, and a steady pace, giving off the noble aura of a superior, walked in through the gate.
Walking alongside him was a poised and beautiful woman, looking to be around twenty years old as well, with a slender figure, skin like snow, and long black hair, her knitted brows and smile were like a spring breeze. If she stood in the crowd, she definitely stood out from the crowd and could be seen at a glance.
The two of them were touring the garden, followed by a large group of people behind them, among them were the Third Prince, Fifth Prince, Sixth Prince, Lin Chenyu, and Lin Mushan that Zhang Ruochen recognised, as well as some martial artists that Zhang Ruochen didn’t recognise.
They accompanied them all the way, either talking and laughing, or pointing out the mountains and rivers, as well as words of pandering and flattery from the crowd.
“Your Highness, the Seventh Prince, is indeed highly opinionated, those evil rats from the Black Market and the Moon Worshipping Demon Cult, I believe that they will soon be put to death by the Martial Market Palace and the Yuntai Sect House.”
“Since Seventh Brother rushed back to the King City, who would dare to sow their wild oats in the King City?”
……
That one handsome man wearing a golden robe suddenly stopped and looked at Zhang Ruochen and the Nine County Lord standing in the centre of the garden, and at a glance, it was almost as if two young lovers were having a private meeting.
The Ninth County Princess was obviously a little afraid of that one gold-robed man, and immediately greeted him and bowed to him, saying, “Yu Xi pays her respects to Seventh Brother.”
“So he is the Seventh Prince, Zhang Tiangui.” Zhang Ruochen’s eyes narrowed as he stared towards that one gold-robed man.
Today, Zhang Ruochen was only able to meet, for the first time, that one long-rumoured Seventh Prince.
