Chapter 55: The Fickleness of Human Relationships
Everyone held their breath, staring intently at the direction of the battle platform.
On the platform, two afterimages silently collided. In just an instant, they crossed paths.
Then, they separated at an even faster speed.
Zhang Ruochen stood where A Le had just been, and A Le stood where Zhang Ruochen had just been. The two stood motionless.
"Why aren't they moving? Has the victor already been decided?"
"Such speed!" Shui Wenxin stood below the battle platform, watching Zhang Ruochen and A Le.
With his cultivation level, he could barely trace the path of their swords. But if he had to block either of their strikes, he would only have a forty percent chance of success.
The other sixty percent meant death.
"Who won?" Lin Ningshan stood up from her seat, her beautiful eyes fixed on the battle platform, a hint of anticipation in her expression.
A Le, who had been standing straight, glanced at his chest. A wave of pain surged through him, followed by blood gushing from his chest, staining most of his clothes red.
"Thud!"
He fell to the ground in great reluctance, one hand tightly gripping his sword, the other clutching his chest, his gaze still fixed on Lin Ningshan below the platform.
In the end, he had lost, failing to fulfill his promise to her.
A blood mark appeared on Zhang Ruochen's neck, very shallow, only breaking the skin.
"Why... didn't you... kill... me?" A Le lay on the ground, staring at Zhang Ruochen.
In truth, Zhang Ruochen could have emerged without any injury. But that would have required him to kill A Le with a single strike.
Yet, he didn't do that. After making his move, he forcibly altered his sword's trajectory, shifting it slightly, which allowed A Le's sword to graze the skin of his neck.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at him and said, "I never kill people."
In fact, Zhang Ruochen had a second half to that sentence, which he didn't voice: "Unless I encounter someone who deserves death."
"I owe you a life... I will repay it someday..." A Le gritted his teeth, like a stubborn lone wolf, crawling down from the battle platform on his own, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
Zhang Ruochen frowned slightly and looked toward Lin Chenyu and Lin Ningshan.
The Lin family's hearts were indeed ruthless and cold. They hadn't even sent a servant to help the severely injured A Le down, instead watching him crawl off the platform alone.
Of course, he didn't bother to intervene, as everyone has their own path.
Next came the tenth martial match.
Only two Yellow List martial artists in the Yellow Level Martial Palace had yet to compete: Sikong Di, ranked fifth, and Yun Tian, ranked twenty-first.
The one to step forward was naturally the stronger one, Sikong Di.
Sikong Di was also a top-tier expert, with combat power comparable to a Mysterious Extreme Realm initial stage martial artist. But since even Shui Wenxin and A Le had fallen to Zhang Ruochen, he naturally stood no chance.
Without any suspense, Zhang Ruochen easily defeated Sikong Di, becoming the first Yellow Extreme Realm martial artist in the Yunwu Commandery to achieve ten consecutive victories against Yellow List martial artists.
Zhang Ruochen not only received a new Yellow List Iron Token but also a massive reward of one million silver coins.
The new Yellow List Iron Token bore the inscription: "Yunwu Commandery, Yellow List First, Zhang Ruochen." For Zhang Ruochen, it was a kind of honor.
As for the one million silver coins, they were exchanged for one thousand spirit crystals. After all, one million silver coins were too heavy to carry, filling an entire cart, while spirit crystals were much more convenient to transport.
Zhang Ruochen deposited eight hundred thousand silver coins into his three-star noble card at the Martial Market Bank, carrying only two hundred spirit crystals on him. He planned to go to Qingxuan Pavilion to purchase some pills to prepare for breaking through to the Mysterious Extreme Realm.
"Ninth Sister, it seems you've also gained quite a bit?" Zhang Ruochen said, walking over to the Ninth Princess, who was happily counting her spirit crystals.
"I only won twenty spirit crystals, nowhere near your haul, Ninth Brother." The Ninth Princess squinted her eyes, looking very excited. She had bet on Zhang Ruochen's victory and had won.
Twenty spirit crystals was a huge sum even for a princess.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I'm heading to Qingxuan Pavilion to buy some pills. Want to come along?"
"Sure! I just made some money, so I can buy a Three Pure True Qi Pill to break through to the Yellow Extreme Realm Great Extreme Position." The Ninth Princess said cheerfully.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Since I won a million silver coins, I'll treat you. Ninth Sister, just tell me what pills you want."
"Ninth Brother, you're the best!" The Ninth Princess lunged at him again, like a swallow diving into its nest, planting a kiss on Zhang Ruochen's cheek.
"Boom!"
Thunder rumbled in the sky, followed by a fierce wind and a torrential downpour.
By the time Zhang Ruochen and the Ninth Princess walked out of the Yellow Level Martial Palace, the rain was pouring heavily.
The streets were covered in puddles. A fallen leaf swirled in the wind before landing in the murky water, crushed into mud by a passing carriage.
"Beat him! Break his legs! I'm so furious—how useless can he be, unable to even defeat a Zhang Ruochen?" Lin Ningshan stood in the rain, speaking coldly.
A maid held an oil-paper umbrella over Lin Ningshan's head, shielding her from the wind and rain.
Following Lin Ningshan's orders, four burly Lin family guards grinned maliciously as they swung iron rods down onto A Le.
"Thud! Thud!"
A Le lay prostrate in the rainwater, his legs broken, his head split open, his entire body battered and bloody.
"What kind of worthless 'Death Sword' is this? Just a slave! If the young lady hadn't picked you up, you'd have starved to death in the snow long ago!"
"Aren't you supposed to be tough? Where's your sword? Come on, kill me! Haha!"
"Beat him! Beat this useless piece of trash!"
...
The four guards put all their strength into swinging the iron rods, letting out wild laughter.
Lin Ningshan stood to the side, her figure tall and striking, her face pure and cold, staring disdainfully at A Le lying in the rain. "If I hadn't seen a bit of talent in you, why would I, a young lady, take in a slave? Now that Zhang Ruochen has severed your meridians, what use are you? Beat him! Beat him to death! Kill this useless thing!"
A Le lay in the muddy water, his eyes open, staring at Lin Ningshan standing not far away. Then, he closed his eyes.
Blood flowed from his body, dyeing the rainwater within three meters around him red.
A guard with a back like a tiger and a waist like a bear, holding a bloodstained iron rod, walked over to Lin Ningshan and bowed. "Young lady, it looks like he's dead."
"Truly useless." Lin Ningshan sneered coldly, staring at A Le lying in the rain.
"Rustle!"
A luxurious gilded carriage passed through the rain and stopped in the middle of the street.
Lin Chenyu lifted the carriage curtain, revealing a handsome, stern face, and said with a dark smile, "Ningshan, it's time to go back!"
Lin Ningshan nodded, not even glancing at A Le lying in a pool of blood, and climbed into the carriage.
The wheels turned, and the luxurious carriage quickly disappeared at the end of the street.
Not long after, four snow-white ghost shadow rabbits pulled an ancient carriage out of the Yellow Level Martial Palace and stopped beside A Le.
Zhang Ruochen stepped down from the ancient carriage, looked at A Le, covered in blood, and extended a finger to his nose.
"He's still breathing, not dead yet." Zhang Ruochen said.
The Ninth Princess sat in the carriage, lifting the window curtain, and said, "Ninth Brother, his hands and legs are broken, and he's so badly injured—he can't be saved. Even his master doesn't care about him, so why should we?"
"If we don't help, he'll definitely die. Send two men to take him back to the palace. Whether he lives or dies depends on his will."
Zhang Ruochen took out a pill bottle containing ten second-grade healing pills, Saint Nirvana Pills, each worth two thousand silver coins.
He placed one Saint Nirvana Pill into A Le's mouth, then put the bottle away.
The Ninth Princess immediately ordered two guards to lift A Le onto another ancient carriage, which headed toward the palace.
Zhang Ruochen and the Ninth Princess drove the Cloud Rabbit Moon Chariot toward the pill market.
"Drip, drop!"
The rain continued to fall.
Pedestrians and carriages grew scarce as they reached a secluded street.
In the darkness, a green figure flashed quickly, descending from a wooden tower and landing lightly on a four-story eaves pavilion.
It was one of the Queen's four disciples, Han Qingluo.
Han Qingluo's green clothes were soaked through by the rain, outlining her curvaceous figure—her high, firm chest and slender willow waist made her look like a seductive ghost wandering in the night.
Her face was veiled, revealing only a pair of beautiful eyes, fixed on the ancient carriage passing below.
"Whoosh!"
Her jade hand reached to her slender waist, pulling off her belt. With a flick of her arm, the belt transformed into a green soft sword.
She kicked off with both legs, leaping into the air, chasing after the carriage.
Then, she soared through the air, descending from seven meters above, and slashed her sword down at the carriage.
"Crack!"
The carriage split in two, flying apart to the left and right.
The maid driving the carriage was killed by the sword energy, her body cleaved in two.
But the carriage was empty—no sign of the Ninth Prince.
"Did he escape in advance?" Han Qingluo landed on the ground, standing in the middle of the street, a puzzled expression on her face.
Just as Han Qingluo was wondering, Zhang Ruochen and the Ninth Princess emerged from the distant rain curtain.
"Who are you?" The Ninth Princess said angrily.
"Oh!"
Han Qingluo let out a soft exclamation, confused as to how Zhang Ruochen and the Ninth Princess had escaped her lethal strike.
In truth, Zhang Ruochen and the Ninth Princess had been inside the carriage all along, unaware of any assassin targeting them. But the moment Han Qingluo made her move, Zhang Ruochen sensed her killing intent.
So, he grabbed the Ninth Princess, smashed through the carriage wall, and escaped from the back, dodging the deadly ambush.
Zhang Ruochen sized up Han Qingluo and said, "A Mysterious Extreme Realm assassin?"
Han Qingluo was filled with killing intent, her gaze icy cold. She was no ordinary martial artist but a killer who had taken countless lives.
Assassins were terrifying enough on their own—unpredictable, with endless methods of killing. They could take down martial artists of higher realms from a lower level.
A Mysterious Extreme Realm assassin was naturally extremely dangerous!