# Chapter 72: Provocation
Zhang Ruochen jumped down from the Bloodfeather Eagle's back and saw four bold characters carved into the cliff on the south side of the White Stone Square: "Western Academy Martial Ground."
Each character was seven meters long, deeply embedded into the stone wall, containing a powerful Sword Intent.
It seemed that an absolute top-tier expert had used a precious sword to carve these words into the stone wall.
"The person who carved these four characters must have already cultivated their Sword Intent to the Sword Heart Illumination realm," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Zhang Ruochen was currently only at the advanced stage of Sword Following the Heart. Only by breaking through this realm could he reach Sword Heart Illumination.
Achieving the Sword Heart Illumination realm was no easy task. Many Heavenly Extreme Realm supreme experts were unable to cultivate to Sword Heart Illumination.
In other words, if a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist could reach the Sword Heart Illumination realm, they would definitely be considered a strong expert among Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artists.
"This year, only this many people from Yunwu Commandery came to take the Martial Market Academy exam?" A discordant voice sounded.
A spirited young man walked over. Seeing Zhang Ruochen, Liu Chenfeng, Zi Qian, and other young martial artists from Yunwu Commandery, a hint of mocking smile appeared on his face.
A rather burly young martial artist from Yunwu Commandery was very angry and said in a deep voice, "What do you mean?"
The spirited young man laughed, "Sifang Commandery, Shen Mengxi. I don't mean anything else, I just think the young martial artists of Yunwu Commandery are getting worse year by year."
"What did you say?"
The young martial artists of Yunwu Commandery all showed angry expressions and surrounded Shen Mengxi.
Shen Mengxi remained very calm, still smiling: "Am I wrong? The young martial artists of Yunwu Commandery are indeed getting worse year by year. Last year, Yunwu Commandery still had at least a hundred or so people taking the exam. This year, there are only sixty-something, not even one-tenth of our Sifang Commandery. Haha!"
The burly young martial artist said coldly, "How dare you insult the young martial artists of our Yunwu Commandery! I challenge you, I'll personally beat you down."
"Fine! If you can withstand three moves from me, I'll immediately take back what I said." Shen Mengxi laughed.
"Three moves? How dare you look down on me like this! I'll make you regret it."
The burly young martial artist let out a loud roar. The true qi inside his body flowed rapidly, circulating through his meridians to his arms.
In an instant, the burly young martial artist's arms turned crimson red, emitting a faint heat wave.
The burly young martial artist suddenly charged forward, clenching his fingers into a fist and throwing a punch, causing the air to collide with a "pa pa" sound.
A young martial artist was slightly moved, saying, "Jiang Heng reached the early stage of Mysterious Extreme Realm three years ago, with quite abundant true qi. Moreover, he has cultivated the Fire Dragon Fist to the minor completion realm. Even if he fights against a mid-stage Mysterious Extreme Realm martial artist, he can last for ten or more rounds."
The burly young martial artist's name was Jiang Heng.
It should be known that the young martial artists coming to take the Martial Market Academy exam were all under thirty years old. Therefore, more than seventy percent of the martial artists had early-stage Mysterious Extreme Realm cultivation. The remaining thirty percent were almost all mid-stage Mysterious Extreme Realm cultivators.
As for late-stage Mysterious Extreme Realm and Minor Extreme Position Mysterious Extreme Realm martial artists, they were extremely rare.
Among the sixty-seven young martial artists of Yunwu Commandery, there was only one late-stage Mysterious Extreme Realm and one Minor Extreme Position Mysterious Extreme Realm.
That Minor Extreme Position Mysterious Extreme Realm young martial artist was naturally Zi Qian.
The other late-stage Mysterious Extreme Realm martial artist was already twenty-nine years old, with almost no chance of becoming a Martial Market Academy student. Because his age was too great, it was impossible for him to reach Earth Extreme Realm before thirty.
As for outer court disciples of the Martial Market Academy, if they couldn't reach Earth Extreme Realm before thirty, they could no longer continue cultivating in the Martial Market Academy.
Shen Mengxi of Sifang Commandery was also at the early stage of Mysterious Extreme Realm, but his combat power was actually above Jiang Heng's.
He saw his arm swing, slashing out a blade of true qi that struck Jiang Heng's chest.
"Bang!"
Jiang Heng screamed, flew backward, and heavily fell to the ground.
His chest was slashed open by the true qi blade, creating a three-foot-long bloody wound. Even two of his meridians were severed, and bright red blood continuously gushed from the wound.
In just one move, Jiang Heng was severely injured, definitely unable to participate in tomorrow's academy exam.
"Haha! The young generation expert of Yunwu Commandery can't even withstand one move from me. How disappointing!" Shen Mengxi laughed.
Those young martial artists from Sifang Commandery, seeing Shen Mengxi severely injure a young martial artist from Yunwu Commandery in just one move, all started laughing.
"Last year, Yunwu Commandery only had three people admitted into the Martial Market Academy. This year, they probably won't have any."
"With Shen Mengxi's strength, he should be able to defeat everyone from Yunwu Commandery."
"At this rate, it won't be long before Yunwu Commandery is annexed by our Sifang Commandery. Heh heh."
Zhang Ruochen walked to Jiang Heng's side, took out a healing pill called Saint Nirvana Pill and gave it to him.
The Saint Nirvana Pill was a second-grade healing pill with quite powerful medicinal effects. Although it couldn't help Jiang Heng recover his two severed meridians, it could quickly heal his external injuries. As long as the meridians in his body weren't completely severed, they could still be slowly reconnected.
After taking the Saint Nirvana Pill, a bit more color returned to Jiang Heng's face. He said gratefully, "Thank you very much, Ninth Prince."
"It's nothing, just a pill." Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly, helping Jiang Heng up from the ground.
"Ninth Prince? Among this year's examinees from Yunwu Commandery, there's actually a prince? Excellent!"
Hearing Jiang Heng's words, Shen Mengxi's eyes immediately lit up. He looked toward Zhang Ruochen and said, "I've long heard of the great reputation of Yunwu Commandery's royal clan's national treasure manual, 'Innate Skill.' Ninth Prince, having reached Mysterious Extreme Realm at such a young age, must have cultivated the 'Innate Skill.' I wonder if the Ninth Prince could offer some guidance?"
Seeing Shen Mengxi preparing to provoke Zhang Ruochen, Elder Xie, who was standing at the edge of the Western Academy Martial Ground, frowned slightly and wanted to stop him.
After all, Zhang Ruochen was a prince of Yunwu Commandery, with a much higher status than Jiang Heng. If he were also severely injured before the exam, the Martial Market Academy would definitely have to take responsibility.
Elder Situ stopped Elder Xie, laughing, "Young people sparring in martial arts, why should we interfere?"
Elder Situ was the guide for the examinees from Sifang Commandery and had a good relationship with Sifang Commandery, so he naturally spoke on their behalf.
The more young martial artists from Sifang Commandery were admitted to the Martial Market Academy, the more rewards the guide would receive from the Martial Market Academy.
Therefore, every time the Martial Market Academy held exams, not only were the examinees from various commanderies competing against each other, but the guides were also competing among themselves.
Elder Xie was somewhat displeased, saying, "He is a prince of Yunwu Commandery. If something happens to him before the exam, do you think the Yunwu Commandery King will let it go?"
"Elder Xie, you're overthinking. Nothing will happen. If something does happen, I'll take responsibility, how about that?" Elder Situ laughed.
"Hmph!"
Elder Xie snorted coldly and stepped back.
Elder Xie didn't want to offend Elder Situ because Elder Situ's cultivation was a realm higher than his. Since Elder Situ said he would take responsibility if something happened, Elder Xie naturally gave him face.
"The young martial artists of Yunwu Commandery are indeed too weak. I'm afraid few are a match for Shen Mengxi." Elder Xie glanced at Zhang Ruochen and gently shook his head.
Reaching Mysterious Extreme Realm at sixteen, his talent was not low, but unfortunately he was still too young. He simply couldn't compare with Shen Mengxi and would definitely lose.
"Since Shen Mengxi knows his identity, he probably won't strike too hard. At most, he'll just defeat him and humiliate him a bit, using this to crush the confidence of Yunwu Commandery's young martial artists." Elder Xie thought this in his heart and sighed again.
Seeing Shen Mengxi seek guidance from Zhang Ruochen, the young martial artists of Sifang Commandery all laughed, feeling that Shen Mengxi would definitely win.
Prince Huo Xing of Sifang Commandery stood with his hands behind his back in the center of the martial ground, laughing, "Shen Mengxi, if you can defeat Yunwu Commandery's Ninth Prince within three moves, I will reward you with a True Martial Treasure!"
"Why three moves? One move is enough."
Shen Mengxi decided to perform well in front of Prince Huo Xing. His gaze fixed on Zhang Ruochen again, and he laughed, "Ninth Prince, you heard it just now. If I defeat you within three moves, I'll receive a True Martial Treasure. So, in the upcoming battle, I will go all out. If there's any offense..."
Zhang Ruochen interrupted Shen Mengxi's words, saying, "Shen Mengxi, I'm afraid you've misunderstood. I never said I would fight you."
Shen Mengxi was momentarily stunned, then quickly recovered, secretly laughing in his heart, "This Ninth Prince knows when to bend and when to stand firm. Having witnessed my powerful cultivation just now, he definitely doesn't dare to fight me, so he's actively avoiding it. But you want to avoid it? How could I let you off?"
Before Shen Mengxi could continue speaking, Zhang Ruochen added, "This isn't the academy exam yet. You injured a martial artist from Yunwu Commandery, so you must pay medical compensation. I won't extort you—take out thirty thousand silver coins and compensate Jiang Heng. I won't pursue this matter further."
A very fair price. Zhang Ruochen neither asked for too much nor too little.
Shen Mengxi was stunned again.
Was this Ninth Prince joking?
Those young martial artists from Sifang Commandery all burst out laughing, looking at Zhang Ruochen as if he were an idiot. This Ninth Prince was too naive!
Liu Chengfeng stepped forward and shouted, "Shen Mengxi, the Ninth Prince told you to take out thirty thousand silver coins as compensation. Are you going to do it or not? If you don't, do you believe I'll break your legs?"
Thirty thousand silver coins was almost all of Shen Mengxi's wealth. How could he possibly take it out?
Shen Mengxi knew that Liu Chengfeng had once been a Yellow List martial artist and was definitely no match for him. So, he fixed his gaze on Zhang Ruochen again, letting out a mocking laugh, "The prince of Yunwu Commandery turns out to be just a turtle who shrinks his head. He doesn't even have the courage to fight me. How disgraceful to the Yunwu Commandery King."
Zhang Ruochen frowned slightly.
Liu Chengfeng revealed a hint of a smile, saying, "Shen Mengxi, you're too arrogant. Even if you fought me, you would definitely lose. And you dare to think about fighting the Ninth Prince?"
Shen Mengxi sneered, "Fine! If the Ninth Prince can defeat me, I'll immediately take out thirty thousand silver coins and give them to that injured martial artist from Yunwu Commandery, and apologize to him. But if the Ninth Prince loses, heh, how could a strong person apologize to a weakling? Everyone agrees, right?"
"Shen Mengxi is right. A strong person can't apologize to a weakling."
"If the Ninth Prince doesn't even have the courage to fight, he might as well roll back to Yunwu Commandery's royal palace and drink milk! Haha!"
Those martial artists from Sifang Commandery all joined in the commotion, wanting to force Zhang Ruochen to fight. If Yunwu Commandery's Ninth Prince was beaten into a pig's head by Shen Mengxi, it would definitely be quite an interesting sight.