Chapter 25: The Top Eight
Lin Ningshan and the Ninth Princess had both only broken through to the mid-level of the Yellow Extreme Realm in the last three months, making them roughly equal in strength.
The Ninth Princess entered the training ground first, holding a cyan True Martial Treasure-level war sword in her hands. Her figure was graceful, her bearing elegant, and she stood in the center of the field, beautiful as a painting.
Lin Ningshan followed her into the training ground.
The Ninth Princess curled her lips slightly, revealing a faint smile: "Ningshan, I heard you've already reached the 'Sword Follows the Heart' realm. I, this princess, would like to see just how strong 'Sword Follows the Heart' really is."
"Clang!"
Her arm shook, and the scabbard immediately flew away.
"Emerald Water Like Waves!"
The Ninth Princess knew Lin Ningshan was a formidable opponent, so she struck out with a Human-grade mid-rank sword technique right from the start.
As the sword technique was unleashed, it immediately formed seven sword shadows. Those seven sword shadows then transformed into forty-nine.
The forty-nine sword shadows connected into a curtain of blue-green water, emitting a sound like flowing water as they pressed down toward Lin Ningshan.
Lin Ningshan stood firmly in place, completely still, her eyes fixed tightly on the Ninth Princess's hand gripping the sword.
Just as the water curtain pressed before Lin Ningshan, she suddenly thrust her sword forward, striking the center of the curtain. All of the Ninth Princess's sword techniques instantly shattered.
"Swish, swish!"
The Ninth Princess quickly changed her moves, her sword technique growing increasingly sharp.
Lin Ningshan remained rooted to the spot, not moving her feet.
With every thrust of her sword, she could break all of the Ninth Princess's attacks.
Standing outside the training ground, Zhang Ruochen shook his head slightly, thinking to himself: "Lin Ningshan's understanding of sword intent has reached the 'Sword Follows the Heart' realm, but the Ninth Princess's understanding of sword intent is still stuck at the 'React to Moves with Moves' level. Although their martial cultivation realms are the same, when it comes to actual combat, the Ninth Princess is absolutely no match for Lin Ningshan. Barring any surprises, the Ninth Princess will lose within ten moves."
Just then, the battle situation in the training ground indeed underwent a dramatic change.
Lin Ningshan took the initiative to attack, stepping forward and swinging her arm, creating a huge sword flower in the air.
The Ninth Princess immediately retreated, but Lin Ningshan pressed forward relentlessly.
"Whoosh!"
When the sword stopped, its sharp tip was pointing directly at the Ninth Princess's heart.
"Princess, you have lost," Lin Ningshan said.
The Ninth Princess put away her Emerald Water Sword and walked down from the training ground, feeling deeply upset. She stood beside Zhang Ruochen and said, "Ninth Brother, my cultivation isn't weaker than hers, so why did I lose so quickly?"
"Sword intent! Your attainment in sword intent is far inferior to hers. Once you also reach the 'Sword Follows the Heart' realm, you'll naturally understand," Zhang Ruochen said.
Immediately after, the second match began.
The two standing in the training ground were Gu Li of the Gu family and Situ Linhai, the top young expert of the Situ family.
The gap in strength between the two was very obvious. Situ Linhai used only three moves to punch Gu Li out of the training ground.
"Fifth match, Ninth Prince Zhang Ruochen versus Bai Wanli of the Bai family."
Zhang Ruochen and Bai Wanli entered the training ground together.
In the first two rounds of assessment, Zhang Ruochen had stolen the spotlight, causing quite a stir among the crowd.
Now, all the martial artists who had come to participate in the year-end assessment wanted to know just how strong his true strength really was.
Outside the training ground, Lin Ningshan, the Ninth Princess, the Fifth Prince, and the Sixth Prince all fixed their gazes on Zhang Ruochen. They too wanted to know how a minor-level martial artist could defeat a mid-level one.
Bai Wanli had ranked eighth in the Wangshan Hunting assessment, with cultivation at the mid-level of the Yellow Extreme Realm. He could even kill a wild ox with his bare hands, so he was by no means a weakling.
"Ninth Prince, you said earlier that you're best at using a sword, but I'm not skilled with one. For the sake of fairness, how about we compete with fists and feet?" Bai Wanli said.
"Then let's use fists and feet," Zhang Ruochen said indifferently.
Outside the training ground, many people frowned slightly, because they knew the Bai family was best at fist techniques.
The Ninth Prince's cultivation was already a realm weaker than Bai Wanli's, and now he was giving up his own specialty, the sword. He would definitely be at an even greater disadvantage.
"Kill!"
Bai Wanli mobilized all the true qi in his body, letting out a loud roar as he executed the Human-grade mid-rank martial technique, "Killing Prestige Fist."
"Bang!"
He stomped his foot on the ground, shattering a stone slab, and charged forward, punching toward Zhang Ruochen's chest.
With the power of the Human-grade mid-rank martial technique, Bai Wanli unleashed the strength of nine oxen, a faint halo of light emanating from his fist.
Zhang Ruochen stood still, sinking his legs slightly. The muscles in his legs, the spine in his back, the muscles in his arms—every part of his body mobilized its strength simultaneously.
"Bang!"
He suddenly struck out with a palm, colliding with Bai Wanli's "Killing Prestige Fist."
"Crack!"
The sound of a bone breaking rang out!
"You have lost," Zhang Ruochen said calmly, straightening his body.
Bai Wanli supported his arm, feeling that his entire arm had lost its strength. He staggered back more than ten steps and looked at Zhang Ruochen with some fear. "You... how is your strength so great?"
Not only Bai Wanli couldn't understand, but the young martial artists standing outside the training ground were also completely baffled.
After all, the explosive force of Bai Wanli's punch just now was enough to match nine oxen. Yet the Ninth Prince, without using any martial technique, had shattered the bones of Bai Wanli's arm with a single palm strike.
For a minor-level martial artist, this was simply impossible!
Only the older martial artists with stronger cultivation could see some clues.
"Master Bai's arm wasn't broken by the strike; it was twisted," said the general in silver scale armor.
"Twisted? How is that possible? I clearly saw the Ninth Prince just strike out with a palm. How could he have twisted Master Bai's arm?" a young martial artist said.
The general in silver scale armor said, "The Ninth Prince's control over his strength is incredibly precise. He unleashed the power of every inch of muscle and bone in his body, and when he struck out with that palm, the force of the palm technique carried a twisting power."
"In just an instant, that twisting power disappeared, so naturally you couldn't see it. Not just you, even at my current realm, I couldn't control my strength to such a fine degree."
The person who said this was Ge Qian, the personal bodyguard leader of the Cloudwu Commandery King, so naturally no one doubted the truth of his words.
"The Ninth Prince is this powerful? Heaven! He's only been cultivating for three months! Even the Seventh Prince doesn't have such heaven-defying talent, does he?"
"After this year-end assessment, the Ninth Prince's name will surely resound throughout the royal capital, making him a prominent figure among the younger generation."
Amid the crowd's exclamations of astonishment, Zhang Ruochen walked out of the training ground.
After three more martial matches, the top eight were finally decided.
The top eight were: the Fifth Prince, Situ Linjiang, Xue Kai, Zhang Ruochen, Lin Ningshan, Luo Cheng, Lin Tianwu, and the Sixth Prince.
Next came the competition for the top four.
In other words, as long as one won the next match, they would secure a spot in the top five and gain the opportunity to cultivate in the Barbarian God Pool.
"First match: Ninth Prince Zhang Ruochen versus Lin Ningshan of the Lin family."
Hearing the name of his opponent, Zhang Ruochen lifted his head slightly and muttered to himself, "Too coincidental."
He glanced in Lin Ningshan's direction.
At that moment, Lin Ningshan also looked over, her gaze fixed on Zhang Ruochen.
The Ninth Princess stood beside Zhang Ruochen, a hint of a smile on her lips. "Ninth Brother, I know you like Ningshan, but Ningshan doesn't like you at all. Don't go easy on her—you have to use your full strength. I'm counting on you to get revenge for me."
Zhang Ruochen's expression was calm as he walked into the training ground.
"Cousin, I never expected you to awaken your Divine Martial Mark at sixteen, past the optimal age for martial arts training, yet your cultivation speed is still this fast. It's truly unbelievable," Lin Ningshan said softly, a faint smile on her delicate face.
Her red lips were gently pressed together as she stood gracefully opposite Zhang Ruochen, exuding a fresh and refined beauty.
After witnessing Zhang Ruochen's battle with Bai Wanli, Lin Ningshan naturally no longer underestimated him. She knew the youth standing across from her was no longer the useless waste he once was, but a martial arts prodigy.
She wasn't confident she could defeat Zhang Ruochen. In fact, she felt he was even more terrifying than the Fifth Prince, Situ Linhai, and Xue Kai, making her even more uneasy.
Of course, she didn't believe Zhang Ruochen would actually draw his sword against her, because she was well aware that Zhang Ruochen had always deeply loved her.
For her sake, Zhang Ruochen had once waited for her outside the Lin family estate for an entire night in the coldest winter, without a single complaint.
When she went to wake him up the next morning, Zhang Ruochen's entire body was frozen stiff. After that, his already weak constitution grew even worse, and he was often bedridden with illness.
In the past, she had indeed looked down on Zhang Ruochen. Even when he waited for her all night in the winter cold, she only thought him foolish, not devoted.
But now, things were different. Now, Zhang Ruochen was a martial arts prodigy. Having such a prodigy deeply in love with her naturally stirred a strange sense of vanity within her.
"Cousin, do we really need to fight? You should know that making it into the top four is very important to me," Lin Ningshan said softly.
Her sparkling, beautiful eyes held a hint of alluring tenderness as she pitifully gazed at Zhang Ruochen standing across from her.
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