# Chapter 16: Minor Extreme Position
With Zhang Ruochen's current physique and the abundant true qi within his body, opening the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth meridians proved effortless.
It took only a single day to successfully open five meridians, threading them through his entire body and forming five Zhoutian cycles.
However, when he began to open the eleventh meridian, he finally felt some difficulty.
It took a full six hours before he successfully opened the eleventh meridian. His entire body was exhausted, drenched in sweat, and nearly ninety percent of the true qi within him had been consumed.
When the eleventh meridian was successfully opened, Zhang Ruochen's body trembled slightly.
A dull sound emanated from between his brows.
"Boom!"
He had reached the Minor Extreme Position of the Yellow Extreme Realm!
The capacity of his qi pool immediately expanded tenfold, becoming a full five meters square in size—almost identical to a real pond.
Within the qi pool, true qi surged and swirled in a hazy mass.
"Just as I thought! This body is still too weak. At the Minor Extreme Position of the Yellow Extreme Realm, I can only open eleven meridians. I must find a way to strengthen my physique."
If other martial artists knew what Zhang Ruochen was thinking at this moment, they would surely weep in the training grounds.
One must understand that being able to open six meridians at the Minor Extreme Position of the Yellow Extreme Realm was already enough to be called a genius.
Opening eight meridians placed one among the top-tier geniuses.
Opening ten meridians was simply monstrous, making martial artists of the same realm look up in awe.
The Seventh Prince had opened ten meridians at the Minor Extreme Position of the Yellow Extreme Realm, thereby shaking the world with his fame, becoming invincible at the same realm, and being crowned the number one heavenly prodigy of Yunwu Commandery. He completely overshadowed the brilliance of all other geniuses.
In the past hundred years, throughout the entire Yunwu Commandery, only he had opened ten meridians at the Minor Extreme Position of the Yellow Extreme Realm. There was no second person.
Of course, now there was one more—Zhang Ruochen!
"Regardless, I've finally reached the Minor Extreme Position of the Yellow Extreme Realm! I wonder what level my strength has reached now?"
Zhang Ruochen washed away the filth from his body, changed into a blue long robe, and walked out of his room.
He planned to find a secluded place to test his strength.
The royal palace of Yunwu Commandery was built around the mountains, enclosing three great peaks within its walls: Junshan, Wangshan, and Tianzishan. Besides the dense clusters of palace-style buildings, there were also some quieter gardens and mountain valleys.
Zhang Ruochen and Lin Fei lived in the Ziyi Side Hall, which was equivalent to a cold palace, far from the main palace complex.
Walking out of the Ziyi Side Hall, one entered a dense forest covered in snow. Continuing forward, one reached one of the three great mountains within the royal palace—Junshan.
At the foot of Junshan, there were no longer endless streams of maids and eunuchs, and even the imperial guards were barely visible.
"Right here!"
Zhang Ruochen stopped, preparing to test his current strength.
His legs bent slightly, forming a horse stance, like a giant elephant standing proudly in the snow.
His legs moved in steps as he continuously struck out palm strikes, the speed increasing rapidly.
"First Palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm: Wild Elephant Charging the Earth!"
Zhang Ruochen pushed off with both legs, every bone and muscle in his body tensing, then suddenly shot forward, striking his palm against the stone wall.
"Bang!"
Cracks spread across the stone wall, the fissures expanding continuously.
The five-meter-high stone wall collapsed with a thunderous roar.
Zhang Ruochen stepped backward rapidly, avoiding being struck by the falling rubble.
"The explosive force of this palm strike is roughly equivalent to the strength of eight oxen!" Zhang Ruochen nodded lightly.
An ordinary martial artist at the Minor Extreme Position of the Yellow Extreme Realm could only unleash the strength of four oxen.
He had just broken through to the Minor Extreme Position of the Yellow Extreme Realm and could already unleash the strength of eight oxen, which was quite impressive. As his cultivation deepened, the power he could unleash would certainly grow stronger.
"Let me try the sword technique!"
Zhang Ruochen took the Flash Soul Sword from the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal, gripped it in his hand, and infused true qi into the sword body.
"Whoosh!"
The first force-type inscription pattern was activated, and the weight of the Flash Soul Sword immediately reached one hundred and fifty-three jin.
Then, the second ice-type inscription pattern was also activated. A bone-piercing cold aura emanated from the sword body, chilling the surrounding air slightly.
With Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, activating two inscription patterns simultaneously was already his limit.
In the past six months, Zhang Ruochen had not spent all his time on body refinement. Much of his time was actually devoted to cultivating the "Heavenly Heart Sword Technique" and the "Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm."
Cultivation method, body refinement, and martial technique—none of the three could be neglected.
The Heavenly Heart Sword Technique was a Spirit-level lower-grade sword technique. The complete set consisted of twelve moves.
Each sword move was extremely exquisite, containing multiple variations, far beyond what Human-level sword techniques could compare to.
For a martial artist at the Yellow Extreme Realm to successfully cultivate the Heavenly Heart Sword Technique would take a tremendous amount of time. Even cultivating just one of its moves would require months of hard work.
Relying on his memories of having previously cultivated the Heavenly Heart Sword Technique, Zhang Ruochen had spent half a year and only succeeded in cultivating three of its moves.
The one hundred and fifty-three jin Flash Soul Sword felt weightless in Zhang Ruochen's hands. He wielded it with great familiarity, as if it had become a part of his body.
The moment his arm moved, the sword moved first.
"Heavenly Heart Points the Way!"
Zhang Ruochen raised his right arm and swung the sword in a slash.
A piercing sound of air being torn appeared in the air, and a sword qi flew out.
"Whoosh!"
On the ground, a seven-meter-long, three-foot-deep icy sword scar was left behind. Where the sword scar passed, grass blades were severed, stones split apart, and a clean cut was left on the ground.
It was like a sword path!
"Heavenly Heart Breaks the Plum!"
Zhang Ruochen shook his arm and thrust the sword forward!
The Flash Soul Sword transformed into a blue light shuttle, producing seven phantom images, as if seven swords were thrusting out simultaneously.
When it struck the stone wall, the tips of the seven sword phantoms converged at a single point, producing a "ding ding" sound.
Seven small sword holes were left on the stone wall, all pierced by the sword tip. The seven sword holes were arranged in the shape of a plum blossom.
Heavenly Heart Breaks the Plum—the "plum" it breaks is not the plum blossom, but the "brow" of the forehead.
A single thrust leaves seven small sword holes on the opponent's brow, like imprinting a blood-colored plum blossom on their forehead.
Only by cultivating the sword intent to the realm of "sword follows the heart" could one successfully master this move.
The realms of sword intent were divided into three levels: Sword Follows the Heart, Sword Heart Illumination, and Man and Sword as One.
Zhang Ruochen was currently at the realm of "Sword Follows the Heart," not far from "Sword Heart Illumination."
Besides the two sword moves "Heavenly Heart Points the Way" and "Heavenly Heart Breaks the Plum," Zhang Ruochen had also successfully cultivated a defensive sword move—"Heavenly Heart Sword Bell"!
"Heavenly Heart Sword Bell!"
Zhang Ruochen continuously infused the true qi in his body into the Flash Soul Sword, sweeping the sword horizontally to block. The sword qi immediately condensed into the phantom image of a pale blue large bell. The phantom of the large bell spun rapidly, enveloping Zhang Ruochen's body within the sword bell.
Once this sword technique was executed, it was enough to block a full-force strike from a martial artist at the Major Extreme Position of the Yellow Extreme Realm. Unless that martial artist at the Major Extreme Position of the Yellow Extreme Realm had also cultivated a Spirit-level sword technique, they would not be able to break through Zhang Ruochen's defensive sword technique.
Heavenly Heart Points the Way!
Heavenly Heart Breaks the Plum!
Heavenly Heart Sword Bell!
Zhang Ruochen continuously executed the three sword moves, using this to comprehend the sword intent realm of "Sword Heart Illumination." Of course, achieving "Sword Heart Illumination" was by no means something that could be done overnight.
Only after exhausting the true qi in his body did Zhang Ruochen return to the Ziyi Side Hall.
"Thirteen days remain until the year-end assessment. I must strive to raise my cultivation a bit more."
Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged, took another Qi-Gathering Pill into his mouth, and began cultivating with full effort.
As the year-end assessment drew closer, the princes and princesses of Yunwu Commandery were all training intensively, hoping to make a stunning impression and shine brilliantly during the assessment.
The year-end assessment was only open to royal descendants and relatives of the king under the age of twenty, intended to increase the motivation of the younger generation and enhance their competitiveness.
In previous years, Zhang Ruochen did not even have the opportunity to participate in the year-end assessment. He could only stand below the stage and watch. At such times, he and Lin Fei would face their most awkward and embarrassing moments.
This year, perhaps things would be different.
While Zhang Ruochen was striving to improve, the other princes and princesses were also making progress.
In a luxurious room within the Yushu Palace, where Zhang Ruochen and Lin Fei had once lived, the laughter of the Eighth Prince, Zhang Ji, rang out: "Haha! I've finally broken through to the Minor Extreme Position of the Yellow Extreme Realm!"
Xiao Fei's face showed a hint of relief, and she praised, "Good! Ji'er, although your current cultivation cannot compare to the Fifth Prince and the Sixth Prince, at least your father can see your progress. He will surely reward you when the time comes."
The Eighth Prince nodded. His cultivation was indeed far behind that of the Fifth Prince and the Sixth Prince.
Last year's year-end assessment, the Sixth Prince was already at the peak of the Minor Extreme Position of the Yellow Extreme Realm. He had likely reached the Middle Extreme Position by now.
As for the Fifth Prince, he was even more formidable. It was said that he had already broken through to the Major Extreme Position.
The Eighth Prince sneered coldly, "Anyway, there's already someone at the bottom. With him there, he'll only make me look even more outstanding."
"Are you talking about the Ninth Prince? Didn't he just open his martial mark not long ago? He probably hasn't even completed marrow washing and meridian flushing yet. He likely won't participate in the year-end assessment," Xiao Fei said.
"Heh heh! Whether he participates or not isn't up to him." The corner of the Eighth Prince's mouth curled slightly, and a disdainful cold smile appeared on his face.