Chapter 19: Shock
Next, the person about to enter the martial field to test his strength was Zhang Ruochen.
"Eighth Brother, you'd better be careful not to let the boulder crush your waist," the Eighth Prince, standing off to the side, said with a cold, sneering look in his eyes.
At the edge of the royal martial field, a martial artist jeered, "The Ninth Prince attending the year-end assessment is just asking for humiliation. Three months is far too short a time; it's hard enough just to complete marrow cleansing and meridian flushing, let alone lift a hundred-jin stone slab. It's practically impossible."
"The little princess lifted a hundred-jin stone slab at just six years old. The Ninth Prince is now sixteen, and there's no need to guess—he definitely won't be able to lift it. That's the real disgrace!"
"If he's going to come out and embarrass himself, he shouldn't have participated in the year-end assessment at all."
Zhang Ruochen paid no attention to the murmurs. His expression was utterly calm, unruffled, as he walked toward the martial field.
As Zhang Ruochen stepped forward, Lin Ningshan was just walking back.
They stopped at the same time, five paces apart, staring at each other.
Lin Ningshan gave Zhang Ruochen a deep, penetrating look, then shook her head with a sigh. "Cousin, you shouldn't have come to the year-end assessment. With your talent, even if you've completed marrow cleansing and meridian flushing, there's no way you can lift a hundred-jin stone slab. By doing this, you're not only humiliating yourself, but you're also bringing shame to Consort Lin and the royal family. Why bother?"
Zhang Ruochen frowned slightly. "Cousin Ningshan, you are indeed outstanding and gifted, but does that give you the right to dismiss others as worthless?"
Lin Ningshan stared at him, her eyes filled with even more disappointment. "Why won't you listen to advice? For you, living an ordinary, peaceful life is the best choice. Why must you insist on practicing martial arts? This path is simply not for you!"
Truth be told, it was only out of consideration for their childhood friendship—when they had been good playmates—that she bothered to advise him not to humiliate himself.
But Zhang Ruochen was too stubborn. He had no idea of his own limitations.
For someone so overconfident and unwilling to heed advice, Lin Ningshan had nothing more to say. She simply thought Zhang Ruochen was incredibly foolish.
"Take care of yourself," Lin Ningshan said, lifting her fair chin as she walked out of the martial field.
The two passed each other.
Once outside the field, Lin Ningshan was surrounded by a crowd of young martial artists, praised and flattered like stars clustering around the moon.
At just fifteen years old, she could lift a thousand-jin stone slab and even throw it fifteen meters. Such strength made many older martial artists present feel ashamed of their own inadequacy.
Moreover, she was beautiful, one of the four great young beauties of the Yunwu Commandery. She was destined to become a proud daughter of heaven, the focus of everyone's attention.
"Congratulations, Patriarch Lin. The Lin family has produced another genius. With Miss Lin's talent, there are probably few among the younger generation in the entire royal city who can match her," an esteemed elder of the martial arts community praised.
The Wang family patriarch smiled. "I hear Miss Lin is about to be betrothed to the Seventh Prince. Truly a perfect match!"
Lin Fengxian, basking in the flattery, felt quite pleased.
Of course, many eyes also turned to Zhang Ruochen, standing alone in the martial field. Most faces wore mocking smiles.
Any family with ties to the royal clan knew something about this frail, sickly Ninth Prince.
The supremely talented Seventh Prince and the worthless Ninth Prince were like two extremes—it was hard to believe they were both sons of the Yunwu Commandery King. The gap between them was enormous: one was a dragon, the other a worm.
To everyone present, the Ninth Prince's participation in the year-end assessment was nothing short of a joke.
But Qin Ya, seated outside the royal martial field, didn't think so. Seeing Zhang Ruochen enter the field, she finally opened her beautiful eyes, as if she had just woken from a nap.
"I'm really looking forward to this," she murmured, a charming curve forming on her lips.
Under the gaze of the crowd, Zhang Ruochen stopped in front of the first stone slab.
At that moment, a burst of laughter erupted from outside the field.
At sixteen years old, choosing the first stone slab to test his strength—was there anything more ridiculous?
Aside from the Eighth Prince, whose face was twisted with mockery, the other princes and princesses all wore expressions of disgust. They felt Zhang Ruochen was disgracing the royal family, tarnishing their reputation as well.
Zhang Ruochen paused briefly by the first stone slab, then moved on to the second, then the third...
"What is he doing?" the crowd murmured in confusion.
Zhang Ruochen stopped in front of the tenth stone slab.
"What? He wants to lift the tenth slab? How utterly reckless! If I remember correctly, he only awakened his Divine Martial Mark three months ago."
The Eighth Prince snorted coldly. "With his talent, even if he trained for thirty years, he could never lift a thousand-jin stone slab. How foolish!"
Lin Ningshan also stared at Zhang Ruochen standing beside the tenth slab, gently shaking her head.
As everyone's attention was fixed on Zhang Ruochen—
"Boom!"
He stamped his foot on the ground, sending a surge of true qi from his sole into the earth. A wave of energy radiated outward from his foot in all directions.
Under the vibration of the true qi, the thousand-jin stone slab shot up more than a meter into the air.
Zhang Ruochen extended a single hand, moving with fluid grace, and caught the three-meter-wide stone slab. Using only five fingers as support, as if holding a plate, he effortlessly lifted the slab above his head.
Seeing this, the entire royal martial field fell silent. Many people even forgot to breathe.
Zhang Ruochen stood perfectly straight, like a spear, holding the thousand-jin stone slab as if it weighed nothing, his posture relaxed.
"Th-this... how is this possible?" The Eighth Prince's face turned pale, his lips trembling.
The other princes and princesses were all dumbfounded, their minds blank. They couldn't believe the youth standing in the field was the Ninth Prince.
While everyone was still in shock, Zhang Ruochen suddenly punched the bottom of the stone slab.
"Boom!"
The thousand-jin slab was sent flying upward, soaring five meters into the air.
Then, it descended at an even faster speed.
With the momentum of the fall combined with the slab's own weight, the impact force far exceeded a thousand jin.
Yet Zhang Ruochen caught the slab again, steady as a rock. Then, holding it with one hand, he slowly and calmly lowered it back to the ground.
"Boom!"
The entire royal martial field erupted into an uproar.
No one could believe what they had just witnessed. The display Zhang Ruochen had just put on was far more shocking than Lin Ningshan's earlier feat.
He was only sixteen, and he had awakened his Divine Martial Mark just three months ago.
Something that should have been impossible had happened right before everyone's eyes.