Chapter 11: Breaking Through Again
Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged at the bottom of the water, his mind calm and his expression unchanged as he mobilized the true qi within his body, circulating it through three meridians.
With each cycle of true qi, the pain lessened by a degree.
Given his current martial cultivation level, he could not hold his breath underwater indefinitely. Every five minutes, he surfaced to exchange air.
An hour later, the pain gradually faded. A stream of cool energy entered his body, repairing the damaged flesh. A sensation of comfort spread throughout his entire body, almost making him moan aloud.
"Splash!"
Zhang Ruochen stood up from the water, dried the droplets from his body with a towel, and examined himself before a bronze mirror, nodding in satisfaction.
After more than ten days of cultivation, combined with the refinement of the medicinal bath, his body had grown noticeably stronger. Unlike before, he was no longer so thin as to appear sickly.
Of course, the ten-plus days within the Time-Space Crystal corresponded to only four days in reality.
Four days ago, he had still been a weakling, driven out of the Yushu Palace by the Eighth Prince, mocked and oppressed mercilessly by everyone. Who would have known that four days later, he would already possess the martial cultivation of the Yellow Extreme Realm Middle Stage?
This was nothing short of a miracle!
"It's not enough! The Yellow Extreme Realm Middle Stage is just a beginning!" Zhang Ruochen clenched his fists tightly, his gaze sharp and piercing.
After putting on his clothes, he swallowed a Blood Pill and entered the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal to continue his cultivation.
Being able to reach the Yellow Extreme Realm Middle Stage in four days was not only due to his past life's martial experience but also because of the help from the Time-Space Crystal.
With the Time-Space Crystal, he had three times more cultivation time than other martial artists. This was his unique advantage!
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Wild Elephant Stomps the Earth!"
Zhang Ruochen bent his legs, stepped into a stance, and continuously struck out with his arms. With each palm strike, he mobilized the power of every muscle and every bone in his body.
Having just finished the medicinal bath, he had to use fist techniques to fully integrate the medicinal power into his body, transforming it into his own strength.
In the days that followed, Zhang Ruochen spent almost all his time cultivating in the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal, emerging only once every three days.
Consort Lin knew that Zhang Ruochen had just awakened his Divine Martial Mark and would surely need to go into seclusion to cultivate, opening his Qi Sea, cleansing his marrow, and flushing his meridians. So she did not ask many questions, merely instructing Yun'er to take good care of Zhang Ruochen's daily needs.
She continued to sell her ornaments and use the silver coins she obtained to buy Blood Pills for Zhang Ruochen.
At such times, Zhang Ruochen would have Yun'er take silver coins to secretly buy those ornaments back at a high price.
This was an indescribable emotion—a selfless care that deeply moved Zhang Ruochen's heart.
Gradually, Zhang Ruochen accepted the identity of this body, regarding Consort Lin as his true mother.
"Your Highness, the Ninth Prince, should we tell Consort Lin the truth? If she knew that you are now a true martial artist, she would surely be overjoyed," Yun'er said.
"Not for now. I want to give her a surprise at the year-end assessment. Besides, my cultivation is not yet strong enough. I need to become stronger," Zhang Ruochen said.
By now, Yun'er knew many of Zhang Ruochen's secrets.
Except for the secrets of his past life and the Time-Space Crystal, Zhang Ruochen had told her almost everything.
In Yun'er's eyes, the Ninth Prince was simply an extraordinary martial prodigy. In such a short time, he had already reached the Yellow Extreme Realm Middle Stage. The other princes were far inferior to him in comparison.
Perhaps only the Seventh Prince, whose cultivation was unrivaled among his peers, could be mentioned in the same breath as the Ninth Prince.
After reaching the Yellow Extreme Realm Middle Stage, Zhang Ruochen cultivated for another month within the Time-Space Crystal. Every six days, he took a Qi-Gathering Pill, and every ten days, he took a medicinal bath.
The rest of the time was spent entirely on cultivating the second palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, "Flying Dragon in the Sky," and comprehending the "Meridian Diagram" of the Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture.
The second palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm had not yet been mastered, but the true qi in his Qi Sea had already reached perfection.
"Tonight, I can begin to assault the Yellow Extreme Realm Late Stage!" Zhang Ruochen said.
Hearing this, Yun'er was greatly startled. "The Yellow Extreme Realm Late Stage? It's only been ten days since Your Highness reached the Yellow Extreme Realm Middle Stage, and you can already assault the Late Stage? The Eighth Prince spent four whole years to go from the Yellow Extreme Realm Middle Stage to the Late Stage."
Yun'er did not know about the existence of the Time-Space Crystal. She thought Zhang Ruochen had only cultivated for ten days, but in reality, he had cultivated for an entire month.
This was also because he had spent a lot of time on tempering his body; otherwise, his cultivation speed would have been even faster.
"Is it fast? It's just a natural progression."
Zhang Ruochen did not think his cultivation speed was particularly fast. If other prodigies had such abundant cultivation resources, their speed would also be high.
The fact that the Eighth Prince took four years to reach the Yellow Extreme Realm Late Stage only showed that his aptitude was too poor.
Regardless, at this moment, Yun'er was extremely excited. "Your Highness, I believe you will surely succeed. Once you reach the Yellow Extreme Realm Late Stage, we won't have to fear the Eighth Prince anymore."
"Mm. Go out first. Tonight, don't let anyone disturb me," Zhang Ruochen said.
Yun'er nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at rice. "Tonight, I will stand guard outside the door. If anyone dares to disturb Your Highness's cultivation, I will stop them even if it costs me my life."
Zhang Ruochen gave Yun'er a deep look and said softly, "Thank you."
After Yun'er left his room, Zhang Ruochen immediately entered the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal.
"To break through to the Yellow Extreme Realm Late Stage, I must open three meridians in one go, connecting them to the five viscera, both arms, and both feet."
Zhang Ruochen took out three small jade bottles and lined them up. Each bottle contained a portion of Marrow Cleansing Liquid.
After adjusting himself to his optimal state, Zhang Ruochen swallowed the Marrow Cleansing Liquid from the first small jade bottle. Using the medicinal power, he immediately began to open the fourth meridian in his body.
It took half an hour to successfully open the fourth meridian.
The fourth meridian flowed out from the Qi Sea, passed through the neck, chest cavity, left arm, and right arm, then surged up along the spine of the back to the head, returning to the Qi Sea at the brow, completing a major cycle.
Without any rest, Zhang Ruochen swallowed the Marrow Cleansing Liquid from the second small jade bottle and immediately began to open the fifth meridian.
The fifth meridian extended from the Qi Sea, passed through the chest cavity and abdominal cavity, went through the left leg and right leg, and then returned to the Qi Sea.
This meridian had a longer route, and Zhang Ruochen spent a full three hours to successfully open it.
The true qi in his body was mostly consumed, and his entire body was covered in sweat. Zhang Ruochen had to take out a Spirit Crystal, hold it in his hand, and quickly absorb the spiritual energy from it, converting it into true qi to store in his Qi Sea.
The true qi in his Qi Sea returned to a state of perfection.
Zhang Ruochen immediately swallowed the Marrow Cleansing Liquid from the third small jade bottle and began to open the sixth meridian.
This meridian flowed through the spleen, lungs, kidneys, liver, and heart—the five viscera of the human body. When true qi flowed through the viscera, it could strengthen them. At the same time, the viscera were the most fragile, so Zhang Ruochen had to control the process with extreme care.
After spending a full six hours, the true qi in his body was almost completely depleted, but the meridian had still not been fully opened throughout his body; a small section remained.
If the true qi flow was interrupted, all his efforts would be wasted, and his five viscera might even be damaged.
In the future, trying to open this meridian again would be ten times more difficult.
Zhang Ruochen made a bold decision. At an extremely fast speed, he swallowed a Qi-Gathering Pill.
"Boom!"
The medicinal energy of the Qi-Gathering Pill exploded violently within his body.
Zhang Ruochen immediately divided his mind, using the five already-opened meridians to absorb the medicinal energy, continuously converting it into true qi and transporting it to his Qi Sea.
At the same time, he carefully controlled the true qi to continue assaulting the sixth meridian.
This was a tremendous test of one's mental strength. Fortunately, Zhang Ruochen had been a Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Perfection powerhouse in his past life, possessing strong mental power. Under the condition of dividing his mind, he actually succeeded!
The sixth meridian was successfully opened!
The Qi Sea at his brow emitted a ring of white light, its capacity expanding tenfold again.
In the Yellow Extreme Realm Middle Stage, the Qi Sea was only the size of a water vat.
Now, Zhang Ruochen's Qi Sea had become as large as ten water vats, very spacious, capable of storing a vast amount of true qi.
"I've finally broken through to the Yellow Extreme Realm Late Stage!"
Zhang Ruochen held a Spirit Crystal in his hand. The Divine Martial Mark at his brow manifested and began to absorb the spiritual energy from the Spirit Crystal continuously.
All six meridians were activated, doubling the speed at which the Divine Martial Mark absorbed spiritual energy.
After stabilizing his realm, Zhang Ruochen stopped cultivating.
He opened his eyes. His pupils became exceptionally bright, like two brilliant, cold stars.
With the opening of three new meridians, a large amount of impurities was expelled from his pores, emitting a foul odor.
Zhang Ruochen emerged from the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal. After bathing in a pre-prepared wooden tub, he put on his clothes and pushed open the door to step outside.
It was now deep in the night.
Flakes of snow, like goose feathers, drifted through the air, falling in a flurry. The entire courtyard was covered in a layer of silver frost.
Yun'er sat on the steps outside Zhang Ruochen's room, curled up, occasionally rubbing her hands together and breathing warm air into her palms.
"Creak."
Hearing the door open behind her, Yun'er immediately stood up and looked at Zhang Ruochen as he emerged from inside. Joyfully, she said, "Your Highness, the Ninth Prince, did you succeed?"