Chapter 83: First Round Exam Ends
Regarding Zi Qian's question, Zhang Ruochen's answer was, of course, no.
Who would admit to being a scoundrel?
Over the next day, Zhang Ruochen and Zi Qian both hid in the cave to recover from their injuries.
With the aid of healing pills, by the time darkness fell, Zhang Ruochen's injuries had recovered by seventy to eighty percent. With his current strength, even if he encountered Prince Huo Xing, he was fully confident he could suppress him.
This time, although Zhang Ruochen and Zi Qian had narrowly escaped death, their gains were also substantial.
From Qing You's body, they collected eighteen beast eyes. From the other seven martial artists, they collected a total of twenty-six beast eyes. Adding the fourteen beast eyes Zhang Ruochen already had on him.
Zhang Ruochen now had a total of fifty-eight beast eyes, equivalent to hunting twenty-nine second-rank lower-level savage beasts.
"My current cultivation is at the Mysterious Extreme Realm Middle Stage. I only need to hunt ten second-rank lower-level savage beasts to pass. That means I've already exceeded the requirement."
Zhang Ruochen smiled slightly, then turned his gaze toward Zi Qian. "Miss Zi, how many beast eyes do you have?"
Zi Qian sat cross-legged on the ground, retracting her true qi. "Sixty-eight in total, equivalent to hunting thirty-four second-rank lower-level savage beasts."
For the Mysterious Extreme Realm Small Extreme Position, one had to hunt forty second-rank lower-level savage beasts.
Zhang Ruochen took out twelve beast eyes and handed them to Zi Qian. "Here."
Zi Qian didn't stand on ceremony. She took the twelve beast eyes and put them away.
She said, "Are you really not afraid I'll kill you? Do you know the price on your head in the Black Market?"
Zhang Ruochen continued counting the spirit crystals, silver coins, and True Martial Treasures on the ground without looking back. "How much?"
"One hundred and fifty spirit crystals, equivalent to fifteen thousand silver coins."
Zi Qian's face carried a smile. "Do you know that fifteen thousand silver coins can already hire an Earth Extreme Realm expert to personally kill you?"
Zhang Ruochen turned around and handed a bundle to Zi Qian. "One hundred and fifty spirit crystals. For you. Take good care of them."
"What do you mean?"
Zi Qian was slightly stunned. She took the bundle from Zhang Ruochen and opened it.
The bundle emitted a colorful glow, and a dense spiritual energy surged out from within, causing the concentration of spiritual energy in the air to rise sharply.
It really was one hundred and fifty spirit crystals.
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly. "These are all the treasures I found on Qing You and the seven dead martial artists. Same rules as before—the spirit crystals go to you, and the True Martial Treasures and pills go to me."
Zi Qian gently bit her lower lip, stared intently at Zhang Ruochen, and without any hesitation, put all one hundred and fifty spirit crystals away.
Every young martial artist who could participate in the Martial Market Academy exam was a martial arts prodigy, either from a major family or a large sect.
The cultivation resources and wealth they carried were naturally quite substantial. The combined possessions of ten people were comparable to the assets of an Earth Extreme Realm expert.
Zhang Ruochen packed away all the True Martial Treasures and dozens of pill bottles, then asked, "Now that we've completed the task, we can end the first round exam early. Should we head back now?"
"No! We've only killed twenty-four martial artists from the Four Directions Commandery so far. We haven't even touched the foundation of the Four Directions Commandery. Feng Zhiyi and Qing You are both dead. Over the next two days, we can act even more recklessly and wipe out the Four Directions Commandery's martial artists to the last man." Zi Qian's eyes turned cold. She had no intention of ending the first round exam early.
Zhang Ruochen gently rubbed his chin. "You think hunting Four Directions Commandery martial artists is more profitable than being an assassin?"
"So what if it is?"
Zi Qian admitted it without any pretense, then added, "As the Ninth Prince of Yunwu Commandery, don't you want to do your part for Yunwu Commandery? If both you and I leave the Demon Ridge, how will the other young martial artists of Yunwu Commandery withstand the slaughter from the Four Directions Commandery's martial artists?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "When you put it that way, it seems I really can't stand by and do nothing."
Zi Qian's face broke into a beautiful smile. Her long eyelashes trembled gently as she said softly, "Naturally. In battle, cultivation improves the fastest. Besides, the more cultivation resources we plunder, the faster our cultivation speed will be once we enter the Martial Market Academy."
"For the sake of fewer deaths in Yunwu Commandery, I'll go crazy with you one more time." Zhang Ruochen said.
The night was dim. Zhang Ruochen and Zi Qian turned into two afterimages and charged into the Demon Ridge.
Zhang Ruochen's current speed reached thirty-eight meters per second, matching Zi Qian's speed exactly—neither faster nor slower.
Throughout the entire night, blood rained and winds howled.
Another thirty-five martial artists from the Four Directions Commandery died under Zi Qian's sword.
The two of them obtained a large amount of cultivation resources—not only beast eyes, spirit crystals, and silver coins, but also dozens of True Martial Treasures, a large number of pills, and over ten jin of spirit meat.
During the day, they hid in the cave to rest and recover their true qi.
Zhang Ruochen refined seven Three Pure True Qi Pills in a row, finally stabilizing his Mysterious Extreme Realm Middle Stage cultivation. His injuries healed completely, and his spirit and energy became even fuller.
Unknowingly, dusk had arrived again.
The sky gradually darkened, and soon night fell.
This was the last night of the first round exam!
That night, screams rose and fell one after another in the Demon Ridge. Some examinees even crushed their Qilin Balls, sending up Qilin Smoke.
But by the time the inspectors arrived, that examinee was already dead, and the murderer had fled without a trace.
"How strange! This year's academy exam is so brutal. At least twenty young martial artists from the Four Directions Commandery have died." said one inspector, gripping a long spear.
Another inspector stood with his arms crossed beside the corpse. "I'm afraid it's far more than twenty."
"Either way, the Four Directions Commandery has suffered heavy losses this time. I wonder who they've offended."
"Let's go. It's the last night anyway. The exam ends tomorrow at noon."
The two inspectors mounted their twin-headed snow vultures and turned into two massive shadows, flying away from the area.
The slaughter continued until noon the next day. The number of martial artists who died at Zi Qian's hands reached forty-nine.
Against Zi Qian, who was at the Mysterious Extreme Realm Small Extreme Position, those at the Mysterious Extreme Realm Initial Stage or Mysterious Extreme Realm Middle Stage had no chance to fight back. They were all killed in one move.
Zhang Ruochen followed behind, doing nothing.
Because someone else was already handling the cleanup and looting—and that someone was enjoying it immensely.
To be precise, it wasn't a person, but a cat.
"Haha! Two jin of spirit meat! Profit, profit!"
Xiao Hei searched a Mysterious Extreme Realm Middle Stage martial artist and found a jade box. Opening it, a rich fragrance wafted out.
The jade box contained spirit meat.
"Twenty-one spirit crystals, three hundred silver coins. This martial artist is too poor!"
Xiao Hei shook his head, tossed the bundle containing the spirit crystals and silver coins to Zhang Ruochen, and then chased after Zi Qian.
Zi Qian continued hunting the Four Directions Commandery's martial artists, while Xiao Hei continued looting treasures. The one person and one cat cooperated with remarkable tacit understanding.
Zhang Ruochen followed unhurriedly behind. He looked up at the sun in the sky. "It's almost noon. We need to head back. If we don't, we'll be late."
"Head back for what? This Emperor wants to kill a couple of people too." Xiao Hei bared his sharp teeth and claws, looking quite fierce.
Zhang Ruochen shot him a cold glance. "Do you believe I'll seal you back right now?"
"Just kidding! Why do you have to take it seriously?" Xiao Hei immediately became docile again, retracting his teeth and claws.
When she first saw Xiao Hei, Zi Qian had been very curious. Now, she was no longer surprised. She just glanced at Xiao Hei lightly and looked away.
As long as one taught savage beasts human language from a young age, some highly intelligent savage beasts could indeed speak human words.
Of course, savage beasts that could speak human language were still very rare.
"Keep those treasures with you for now. Once we enter the Martial Market Academy, we'll divide them slowly." Zi Qian used a silk cloth to wipe the blood off her sword, then sheathed it.
Zhang Ruochen could clearly sense that after three days of slaughter, Zi Qian's sword path realm had improved again. She was not far from the high-level stage of Sword Follows the Heart.
At her current cultivation speed, she would reach the high-level stage of Sword Follows the Heart before the Earth Extreme Realm.
"She must be cultivating the Slaughter Sword Path." Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
"Meow!"
Xiao Hei shrank his body until it was only the size of a fist. He leaped from the ground onto Zhang Ruochen's hand, and Zhang Ruochen put him into his pocket.
Zhang Ruochen and Zi Qian left the Demon Ridge and hurried toward the outskirts of the mountain range.
Before long, they walked out of the mountain range and encountered an outer academy student from the Martial Market Academy.
That outer academy student took Zhang Ruochen and Zi Qian on the back of a twin-headed snow vulture and flew toward the Martial Market Academy.
The outer academy student was named Wang Qi, and his cultivation had reached the Mysterious Extreme Realm Large Extreme Position.
Wang Qi looked at Zhang Ruochen and Zi Qian. When he saw Zi Qian, his eyes lit up slightly. Zi Qian was indeed very beautiful, with an excellent temperament—definitely an icy beauty.
A beauty like Zi Qian was not much inferior to even the Three Beauties of the Western Courtyard.
Wang Qi moved closer to Zi Qian. "I entered the Martial Market Academy for cultivation three years ago. I rank two hundred and thirty-eighth among the outer academy students of the Western Courtyard. Which commandery are you two martial artists from?"
Zi Qian's gaze was icy cold. She merely stood on the back of the twin-headed snow vulture, holding her sword, and ignored Wang Qi. She had seen too many men like him who took the initiative to strike up a conversation.
Zhang Ruochen smiled. "Yunwu Commandery."
"Yunwu Commandery."
Wang Qi gently shook his head, his gaze still fixed on Zi Qian. He sighed, "Martial artists from Yunwu Commandery are in a very bad situation in the Martial Market Academy. They've always been suppressed by the Four Directions Commandery. Especially the new students—if they don't have a strong protector, they often get bullied. In previous years, some new students from Yunwu Commandery even went missing. It's said they were secretly killed by students from the Four Directions Commandery. Junior Sister, if you ever run into trouble in the future, just mention my name, Wang Qi. In the Western Courtyard, those people will still give me some face."
"Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother Wang Qi. We'll be careful." Zhang Ruochen said with a smile.
As they spoke, they had already flown over the Western Courtyard of the Martial Market Academy.