# Chapter 30: Barbarian God Pool
The National Master rose from the ground and glanced at Zhang Ruochen standing behind him, showing a displeased expression. "Ninth Prince, why do you not kneel and pay homage to Empress Chi Yao?"
"I only bow to heaven and earth, and to my parents. I do not bow to her."
Having said this, Zhang Ruochen walked through the Imperial Ancestral Hall, passed through a hidden door, and followed the stone staircase behind it, step by step descending toward the underground Barbarian God Pool.
The Fifth Prince, Situ Linjiang, Xue Kai, and Lin Ningshan stood up and looked at Zhang Ruochen.
"Such a rebellious and unruly nature will eventually bring harm to him!" Situ Linjiang gently shook his head.
After his battle with Zhang Ruochen, Situ Linjiang still quite admired his martial arts talent. However, Zhang Ruochen was far too proud—he wouldn't even bow to the Empress. This would surely invite great disaster in the future.
"What is there to be so proud of? He's only at the Yellow Extreme Realm Minor Pole stage now, barely having stepped onto the martial path. Whether he can become a strong one in the future is still uncertain!" Lin Ningshan said.
Then, led by the National Master, the Fifth Prince, Situ Linjiang, Xue Kai, and Lin Ningshan also descended the stone staircase, entering an underground world filled with the smell of blood.
At the center of the underground world, a massive blood-colored divine pool had been excavated, over a hundred meters in both length and width.
The blood-red pool water churned incessantly, stirring up layers of bloody waves.
At the center of the blood pool stood an ancient altar, square in shape, built from ten-thousand-jin boulders. The surface of each boulder was carved with sacrificial inscriptions and diagrams.
The stone platform extended upward, connected as one with the altar on the ground above.
"Enter the Barbarian God Pool now and begin your cultivation! You must remember that the blood essence power in the Barbarian God Pool is extremely fierce. If you truly cannot endure, immediately leave the pool water—do not force yourselves. Otherwise, there may be danger to your lives," the National Master said sternly.
Zhang Ruochen, Lin Ningshan, Situ Linjiang, the Fifth Prince, and Xue Kai—five young geniuses—entered the Barbarian God Pool one by one.
The water of the Barbarian God Pool was scalding hot, like boiling water, capable of cooking a person alive.
"Ah!"
The moment the five young geniuses touched the pool water, muffled groans escaped their lips. The skin that contacted the pool water immediately melted, and their legs became a bloody mess.
They clenched their teeth, enduring the pain, and immediately circulated the true qi within their bodies to resist the blood essence power.
"If you use true qi to resist the blood essence power, then the blood essence power cannot enter your bodies," the National Master said indifferently, standing by the pool's edge.
To obtain the blood essence power from the Barbarian God Pool, the five young geniuses had no choice but to withdraw the true qi they had released externally back into their bodies. The pain surged again, so intense that the meridians on their bodies bulged visibly.
Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power was strong, and he could clearly sense strands of scorching blood essence power entering through the damaged wounds into his flesh and blood, merging into his blood and bones.
"So this is indeed blood essence power! Excellent! With the help of blood essence power, my physique will definitely improve significantly. I must not waste this opportunity!"
Zhang Ruochen slowly closed his eyes and stepped forward, moving toward the center of the Barbarian God Pool.
The deeper he went toward the center, the deeper the pool water became.
After just ten steps, the blood-red pool water reached his waist.
The more contact he had with the pool water, the faster he absorbed the blood essence power. At the same time, the pain in his body grew stronger.
Standing by the pool's edge, the National Master's eyes showed a hint of surprise. He sighed inwardly, "Impressive! His willpower is so firm. Having just entered the Barbarian God Pool, he dares to walk into the middle zone. When the Seventh Prince first entered the Barbarian God Pool to cultivate, it took him an entire hour to adapt to the low zone before he dared to move to the middle zone."
The Barbarian God Pool was divided into three zones: the low zone, the middle zone, and the high zone.
The low zone was the periphery of the Barbarian God Pool. The deepest part of the low zone only reached a martial artist's knees.
Generally speaking, martial artists entering the Barbarian God Pool for the first time would only dare to cultivate in the low zone, not daring to enter the middle zone at all.
In the past ten years, only the Seventh Prince, when he first entered the Barbarian God Pool to cultivate, had walked into the middle zone.
Zhang Ruochen, having just entered the Barbarian God Pool, directly walked into the middle zone to cultivate. This indeed created a considerable shock, putting immense pressure on the other four young martial artists.
The Fifth Prince was entering the Barbarian God Pool for the second time, yet he still did not dare to enter the middle zone. He could only persevere bitterly in the low zone, striving to absorb more blood essence power to temper his physical body and strengthen his constitution.
Two hours later, Lin Ningshan was the first to be unable to hold on and immediately withdrew from the Barbarian God Pool. After all, as a woman, her physical constitution could not compare to that of male martial artists.
The moment she stepped out of the Barbarian God Pool, the burned skin on her legs visibly healed at a remarkable speed, soon becoming smooth as jade, without even a single scar.
The unbearable pain disappeared, replaced by a cool, comfortable sensation. Every inch of her skin felt as if it were soaking in a crystalline milk bath—extremely pleasant.
"How is it recovering so quickly?" Lin Ningshan was astonished.
"It's the blood essence power you just absorbed that helped heal the injuries on your legs! Begin cultivating immediately, striving to refine all the blood essence power and convert it into your own strength. Otherwise, the results of your cultivation just now will be greatly diminished," the National Master said.
Lin Ningshan immediately sat cross-legged, mobilizing her true qi to refine the residual blood essence power within her body.
Half an hour later, Xue Kai also could not hold on and withdrew from the Barbarian God Pool.
Another two hours passed, and Situ Linjiang and the Fifth Prince emerged from the Barbarian God Pool almost simultaneously.
After leaving the pool, they immediately sat cross-legged and began refining the blood essence power as well.
At this moment, only Zhang Ruochen remained cultivating in the Barbarian God Pool—and still in the middle zone.
"Half a day has already passed, and he can still cultivate in the middle zone. Truly incredible. Back then, the Seventh Prince only managed to persist in the middle zone for a day. Can he also last a day?" The National Master clasped his hands behind his back, his eyes filled with disbelief.
In the Yunwu Commandery, the Seventh Prince could be considered a once-in-a-century prodigy. He had awakened a seventh-rank Divine Martial Mark at the age of three, had tempered his body with various treasures since childhood, had a very solid foundation, and possessed exceptional talent and comprehension.
The Ninth Prince had only awakened his Divine Martial Mark at sixteen. Could he possibly compare to him?
Lin Ningshan, Xue Kai, Situ Linjiang, and the Fifth Prince refined the residual blood essence power within their bodies, all significantly strengthening their physiques and gaining great benefits.
They did not leave the Barbarian God Pool but stood by its edge, gazing at Zhang Ruochen in the pool.
"Both entering the Barbarian God Pool for the first time, why is the gap so large?" Situ Linjiang found it hard to believe. His self-confidence had suffered a severe blow.
He considered his own willpower to be extremely firm, capable of enduring pain that ordinary people could not bear. Yet compared to Zhang Ruochen, the gap was so vast.
After one day, Zhang Ruochen still stood steadily in the middle zone of the Barbarian God Pool.
It was not until noon on the third day that Zhang Ruochen emerged from the Barbarian God Pool. He then sat cross-legged and began refining the residual blood essence power within his body.
After refining all the blood essence power in his body, Zhang Ruochen slowly opened his eyes. A trace of blood light flickered within them, then disappeared, retracting back into his pupils.
"My physique has indeed improved significantly. With my current physique, if I were to break through to the Yellow Extreme Realm Middle Pole, I would definitely be able to open nineteen meridians, and perhaps even have the chance to open twenty meridians," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
After the year-end assessment, Consort Lin had moved back to reside in the Yushu Palace.
Returning to the Yushu Palace, Zhang Ruochen immediately took out ten small jade bottles containing Marrow Cleansing Liquid from the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal and arranged them neatly in a row.
"I can begin the breakthrough to the Yellow Extreme Realm Middle Pole now!"
Zhang Ruochen consumed the first portion of Marrow Cleansing Liquid and began opening his twelfth meridian.
...
At this moment, the National Master arrived at the palace where the Queen resided and reported everything that had happened in the Barbarian God Pool to her.
"Bang!"
The Queen's five fingers emitted white true qi, crushing a liuli (glazed) cup into pieces.
"Quite remarkable indeed. He actually cultivated in the middle zone of the Barbarian God Pool for two and a half days. His talent is very high! Doesn't he understand the principle that 'the tree that stands out in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind'?" the Queen said in a deep voice.
The National Master reminded her, "Your Majesty, the Queen. The year-end assessment has just passed. If the Ninth Prince were to encounter some misfortune now, the King would surely suspect you."
The Queen sneered coldly, "Do you think I am that foolish? Naturally, I cannot touch him within the palace. But once he leaves the palace, even if he is killed, it has nothing to do with me."
The National Master said, "In truth, even if the Ninth Prince's talent is high, he is only at the Yellow Extreme Realm Minor Pole stage. He cannot compare to the Seventh Prince at all. Whether he can grow up in the future is still unknown. Your Majesty, the Queen, there is no need..."
The Queen interrupted the National Master's words, saying coldly, "Anyone who poses a threat to my Seventh Son must die! Precisely because he has not yet grown up, he must be eliminated all the more, to eradicate future trouble."