Chapter 42: The Four Ranking Lists
"Your Highness, the Ninth Prince, please follow me. The Master is waiting for you inside."
The Ninth Steward walked ahead, leading the way, bringing Zhang Ruochen into the Martial Market Bank.
The Ninth Princess and Shan Xiangling remained outside; given their status, they were not qualified to meet the Master of the Martial Market Bank.
After Zhang Ruochen and the Ninth Steward left, Liu Chengfeng's eyes narrowed slightly, and he thought to himself, "Damn it! Father actually agreed to see him. What has he done to deserve this?"
Then, Liu Chengfeng's gaze shifted toward Shan Xiangling and the Ninth Princess. He immediately put away the cold expression on his face, revealing what he thought was a dashing and charming smile, and slightly cupped his hands, saying, "Miss Xiangling, I, Liu, have long heard of your renowned name. I wonder if I might have the honor of inviting you to tour the Royal Capital together?"
In his view, with his status, the daughter of a mere leader of the Red Cloud Sect would surely not dare to refuse him.
As long as he could get her alone, wouldn't he have plenty of opportunities to take her?
...
Liu Chuanshen was a legendary figure in the Yunwu Commandery. He controlled all the martial power and finances of the Martial Market Bank within the Yunwu Commandery and was one of the top ten figures in the realm.
Unless it was someone of the caliber of the Yunwu Commandery Prince, it was as difficult as ascending to heaven for an ordinary martial artist to get an audience with him.
From the moment Zhang Ruochen saw Liu Chuanshen, he could sense that this man's martial arts cultivation was unfathomably deep, and his entire being exuded a powerful aura.
If it were an ordinary martial artist standing before Liu Chuanshen, they would already be trembling and wouldn't dare to meet his gaze.
But Zhang Ruochen was no ordinary person. He said very calmly, "I have long heard of the Master's great reputation. Seeing you today, your bearing is indeed extraordinary."
"The Ninth Prince is a dragon among men. I, the Master, have also heard of you for a long time!" Liu Chuanshen stood at the head of the reception hall, deliberately releasing his aura to intimidate Zhang Ruochen.
He observed every move Zhang Ruochen made as he entered, and inwardly praised him, thinking, "This kid is calm and composed, neither servile nor arrogant. If only Chengfeng had half his temperament, how wonderful would that be?"
Zhang Ruochen sat down opposite Liu Chuanshen and said, "Let's skip the pleasantries. The reason I, the Prince, have come to the Martial Market Bank is to do business with you, Master. I believe you won't be disappointed once you've seen the goods."
As he spoke, Zhang Ruochen took off his Space Ring, placed it on the table, and slid it over to Liu Chuanshen.
"Just a jade thumb ring?" Liu Chuanshen took the jade ring and frowned slightly.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Master, try injecting your true qi into the ring."
Liu Chuanshen immediately injected his true qi into the jade ring, activating the six Space Inscription Runes within it. A layer of white light emerged from the surface of the ring.
Liu Chuanshen reached his finger toward the jade ring, and his entire hand instantly vanished, as if it had been swallowed by the ring.
"This..."
Liu Chuanshen's expression immediately became extremely animated, tinged with surprise. He said somewhat excitedly, "The ring contains its own space! May I ask where the Ninth Prince obtained this Space Treasure?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "That... I'm afraid it's not convenient to say."
Liu Chuanshen withdrew his true qi, calming his excitement, and said, "Throughout the entire Kunlun Realm, there are fewer than ten Space Treasures, each one incredibly precious. However, the Space Treasure the Ninth Prince has presented seems to be of a rather low grade, with a very small space. It can only be considered a third-rank True Martial Treasure, I suppose."
Zhang Ruochen said, "If I were to sell this Space Treasure to you, Master, what price could it fetch?"
Liu Chuanshen was very tempted by this Space Treasure, but he maintained a calm expression on his face. "An ordinary third-rank True Martial Treasure is worth between three thousand and ten thousand silver coins. Since this is a Space Treasure, it naturally commands the highest price: ten thousand silver coins."
"Two hundred thousand silver coins." Zhang Ruochen directly multiplied the price by twenty.
Liu Chuanshen gave a faint smile and shook his head. "Ninth Prince, this isn't doing business! This is simply robbery. Business isn't done this way. If the internal space of this Space Treasure were ten times larger, I, the Master, would be willing to pay two hundred thousand silver coins. But the internal space of your treasure is too small! How about this? I'll buy this Space Ring from you at a personal price of twenty thousand silver coins."
"One hundred and fifty thousand silver coins!" Zhang Ruochen said.
"Thirty thousand silver coins!" Liu Chuanshen said.
"One hundred and twenty thousand silver coins!" Zhang Ruochen said.
"Forty thousand silver coins!" Liu Chuanshen said.
Zhang Ruochen made his final concession. "One hundred thousand silver coins. I can't go any lower."
"Fine! One hundred thousand silver coins, deal!" Liu Chuanshen laughed heartily, immediately putting the Space Ring from the table onto his finger, examining it closely, and said with a smile, "Should the one hundred thousand silver coins be deposited into the Ninth Prince's three-star noble card at the Martial Market Bank, or exchanged directly for spirit crystals?"
Zhang Ruochen cursed the old fox inwardly and said, "Deposit it into the three-star noble card."
He was still short of one hundred thousand silver coins to buy the alchemy furnace.
He would have to find another way.
Zhang Ruochen took the three-star noble card Liu Chuanshen handed him, and a thought suddenly struck him. "Since I'm already at the Martial Market Bank, why not go to the Martial Market Arena? I should be able to earn the remaining one hundred thousand silver coins there."
The "Martial Market Arena" was a fighting arena established by the Martial Market Bank. It had a long history, represented the martial spirit of warriors, and was an excellent place to make a name for oneself.
As long as one was confident enough in their own cultivation, most would go to the Martial Market Arena to prove their strength.
If one could win ten consecutive matches in the Martial Market Arena, they would receive a generous reward in silver coins and could also be listed on the ranking charts formulated by the Martial Market Bank.
Once on the charts, one's name would become famous throughout the land.
If your combat power was strong enough and your ranking on the charts was high enough, even people from other commanderies would know your name.
The Martial Market Bank had established four major ranking lists: the Yellow List, the Profound List, the Earth List, and the Heaven List.
The Martial Market Bank had branches all over the world and a highly developed intelligence network. They not only analyzed a martial artist's performance in the arena but also collected other intelligence about them, organizing and summarizing it to finally formulate the lists.
Therefore, the four major ranking lists of the Martial Market Bank were highly accurate.
Of course, you had to enter the Martial Market Arena and fight to become a member of the lists. Otherwise, the world was too vast, and there were too many martial artists; the Martial Market Bank would never be able to compile them all.
Winning ten consecutive matches on the Yellow-level Battle Platform would allow you to be listed on the Yellow List. The more consecutive wins you had, the higher your ranking on the Yellow List would naturally be.
Winning ten consecutive matches on the Profound-level Battle Platform would allow you to be listed on the Profound List.
Winning ten consecutive matches on the Earth-level Battle Platform would allow you to be listed on the Earth List.
Winning ten consecutive matches on the Heaven-level Battle Platform would allow you to be listed on the Heaven List.
Because martial artists at the Earth Extreme Realm and Heaven Extreme Realm were too rare, the Yunwu Commandery did not have Earth-level or Heaven-level Battle Platforms.
Given Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, he could only participate in martial fights on the Yellow-level Battle Platform.
As long as he could win ten consecutive matches on the Yellow-level Battle Platform, he would not only receive a reward of one hundred thousand silver coins but also become a member of the Yellow List.
In the entire Yunwu Commandery, there were currently only twenty-seven Yellow List martial artists, each of whom dominated the Yellow Extreme Realm, practically invincible.
The turnover of Yellow List martial artists was actually quite high because their own cultivation had already reached the peak of the Yellow Extreme Realm Great Perfection, and they could break through to the Profound Extreme Realm at any time. Once they broke through, they would naturally no longer be Yellow List martial artists.
Of course, as old Yellow List martial artists left, new ones would emerge. Generally speaking, the number of Yellow List martial artists in the Yunwu Commandery remained around twenty to thirty.
The Yellow List martial artists of the Yunwu Commandery had their own separate list and were not ranked together with those from other commanderies. That is to say, the Yellow List of the Yunwu Commandery only had rankings from first to twenty-seventh.
Liu Chengfeng was a Yellow List martial artist, with a highest consecutive win record of thirteen matches in the Martial Market Arena, ranking him eleventh on the Yellow List.
Among the younger generation in the Royal Capital, he was considered the strongest. The ten people ranked above him were all older-generation martial artists who had trained for decades.
Those older martial artists, unable to break through to the Profound Extreme Realm, refined their martial skills and enhanced their combat experience, possessing all sorts of bizarre and unpredictable techniques. The younger generation of martial artists was no match for them.
Zhang Ruochen mentioned his idea to Liu Chuanshen.
"The Ninth Prince wants to participate in martial fights on the Yellow-level Battle Platform?"
"Given the Ninth Prince's current cultivation... I'm afraid it might be a bit of a stretch! If the Ninth Prince were to train for another three to five years and reach the Yellow Extreme Realm Great Perfection, he would certainly be able to become a powerful Yellow List martial artist." Liu Chuanshen said.
Liu Chuanshen couldn't see through Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation either. He only knew that during the year-end assessment not long ago, Zhang Ruochen was at the Yellow Extreme Realm Minor Position.
Even if his cultivation had broken through again and reached the Yellow Extreme Realm Intermediate Position, he would absolutely not be able to become a Yellow List martial artist. Winning three consecutive matches in the Martial Market Arena would be a good result.
"Whether I can become a Yellow List martial artist or not, we'll only know after I fight. Isn't that right?" Zhang Ruochen said.
"Since the Ninth Prince is so confident, I, the Master, won't try to dissuade you any further. As it happens, I need to inspect the Martial Market Arena today, so we can go together."
Liu Chuanshen stood up and walked outside with Zhang Ruochen.
Just as they reached the main entrance of the Martial Market Bank, they heard a commotion outside.
"I sincerely invited you to tour the Royal Capital together, and you actually dared to refuse. You really don't know what's good for you. Men, seize this bitch for me, wash her clean, and send her to my room." Liu Chengfeng said angrily.
After being rejected by Shan Xiangling, Liu Chengfeng immediately flew into a rage out of humiliation, feeling that his face had been lost. So, he decided to use forceful means and take her by force.
Two guards immediately walked toward Shan Xiangling. They were already accustomed to this kind of thing. Once Liu Chengfeng set his sights on a woman, even the daughter of a sect leader couldn't escape.
How could the Red Cloud Sect dare to offend the Martial Market Bank?
Once Liu Chengfeng had his fun with her, they might even get a chance to have some leftovers.
Shan Xiangling's face changed color. "Liu Chengfeng, you are a Yellow List martial artist and the son of the Martial Market Bank Master. How can your conduct be so despicable?"
Liu Chengfeng let out a long laugh. "Whether my conduct is good or bad, you'll find out tonight! I advise you not to resist. You should know the consequences of offending the Martial Market Bank. At that time, not just you, but the entire Red Cloud Sect will be wiped out overnight."
Shan Xiangling bit her lip tightly, filled with anger, but she truly didn't dare to offend the Martial Market Bank. The power of the Martial Market Bank was too vast; a single word from them could annihilate the Red Cloud Sect.
Just as Liu Chengfeng was laughing wildly, Zhang Ruochen and Liu Chuanshen walked out from the main entrance of the Martial Market Bank.