# Chapter 93: Who Is the Demon?
"It really does seem like she's seriously injured!"
Zhang Ruochen gently pressed his fingers against Huang Yanchen's wrist, channeling a strand of true qi into her meridians, letting it circulate through her entire body along with her own true qi for a full major cycle.
Using true qi to examine a person's injuries was a common technique used by martial artists.
"She's a Mysterious Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artist with abundant true qi and a powerful martial body. How could she be injured this badly?"
After probing Huang Yanchen's injuries, Zhang Ruochen realized that he might have struck too hard earlier, breaking three of her internal meridians.
At that moment, Zhang Ruochen hadn't expected her to be completely defenseless, which was why he had struck with full force.
"Since she deliberately set a trap to harm me, why would she have no defenses? Could there be some misunderstanding here?"
Zhang Ruochen's brow furrowed even tighter. He looked at Huang Yanchen lying on the ground and gently shook his head. Taking out a bottle of healing and meridian-repairing pills from the Time-Space Crystal, he poured out one pill and carefully fed it into Huang Yanchen's mouth.
He had to admit, Huang Yanchen was indeed extremely beautiful, especially her crystal-clear, rosy lips—perfect and flawless, as if filled with infinite temptation, making one want to lean in and kiss them.
Huang Yanchen, Duanmu Xingling, and Luo Shuihan were not only the three great female demons of the Western Courtyard but also the three most beautiful women there. It was as if the heavens had bestowed every advantage upon them.
Not only had they been given exceptional cultivation talent, but they had also been granted faces that could topple kingdoms.
As for Huang Yanchen, countless students in the Western Courtyard dreamed of stealing a kiss from her, but none had the courage.
Now, the opportunity was right before him. Zhang Ruochen only needed to lower his head slightly to claim Huang Yanchen's first kiss.
But Zhang Ruochen was not the type to take advantage of someone in a vulnerable position. He quickly averted his gaze, placed one palm on Huang Yanchen's back, and channeled his Jade Pure true qi into her body to help her refine the medicine.
The next day, when Huang Yanchen slowly awoke, she found herself lying on a familiar bed, her entire body aching terribly. Even moving a finger was difficult.
What had happened last night?
She tried to recall.
Gradually, she remembered the events of the previous night.
Last night, while she was bathing, she had been spied on by the Ninth Prince of Yunwu Commandery, Zhang Ruochen. Being spied on was bad enough, but that lecher had also ambushed her and knocked her unconscious... Wait, could that lecher have been overcome by lust and done something beastly to her while she was unconscious?
Why else would that lecher have suddenly ambushed her while she was bathing?
He must have been overcome by lust.
Thinking of this, Huang Yanchen's face instantly turned deathly pale.
"Why am I on the bed? Whose clothes am I wearing?"
Huang Yanchen's mind went blank. She had suffered the greatest blow of her life and nearly fainted again. If she weren't already severely injured, she swore she would massacre Zhang Ruochen's entire clan.
She struggled to lift her head and saw Zhang Ruochen sitting in the room, his back to her, seemingly counting something?
What infuriated Huang Yanchen the most was that Zhang Ruochen was only wearing an inner robe, while his outer robe was draped over her.
There was no need to guess anymore. He had definitely done everything he could do.
Huang Yanchen's last shred of hope was shattered. A tear rolled down from the corner of her eye, and her heart was filled with regret. If she had known this would be the outcome, she should have decisively eliminated him the first time they met.
After Zhang Ruochen had used Jade Pure true qi to treat Huang Yanchen's injuries and saw that her condition had stabilized, he had carried her into the room, placed her on the bed, and let her rest quietly to recover.
Of course, at that time, Huang Yanchen had been completely naked in the bath. Since Zhang Ruochen was not a petty man, in his haste, he had taken off his outer robe and wrapped it around her.
It was precisely because of this that the current misunderstanding had arisen.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen was naturally counting the spoils from the first round of the academy examination—the spirit crystals, silver coins, True Martial Treasures, pills, spirit meat, cultivation manuals, and martial techniques he had taken from the martial artists of the various commanderies.
This was definitely a huge haul!
After all, as many as ninety-eight martial artists had died at the hands of Zhang Ruochen and Zi Qian. Each one was a young genius, each one a Mysterious Extreme Realm martial arts expert, and they carried substantial cultivation resources.
Of course, the vast majority had been killed by Zi Qian.
After a thorough inventory, Zhang Ruochen was astonished by the richness of this harvest.
Two thousand four hundred and eighty-three spirit crystals.
One hundred and seventy-four True Martial Treasures. Among them, twenty-one were second-grade True Martial Treasures, one hundred and seven were third-grade, forty-five were fourth-grade, and there was one fifth-grade True Martial Treasure.
Three hundred and sixty-eight bottles of pills—Sanqing True Qi Pills, Blood Coagulation Pills, Saint Nirvana Pills... all kinds of pills. Most were second-grade pills, with over ten bottles of third-grade pills. And the blood pills that martial artists always carried weren't even counted in this.
Spirit meat: a total of forty-eight catties, all sealed in jade containers.
In addition, there were dozens of cultivation manuals and martial techniques. All were human-grade manuals and human-grade martial techniques, which Zhang Ruochen completely disregarded.
Compared to cultivation resources, the amount of silver coins taken from those martial artists was very small, totaling only a little over thirty thousand. It wasn't that those martial artists were too poor, but rather that they had exchanged their silver coins for spirit crystals and blood pills, which were more convenient to carry.
"To have collected so many cultivation resources, enough to cultivate for a long time—no wonder Zi Qian insisted on hunting down martial artists from the various commanderies in Demon Ridge. This is truly a business where a small investment yields huge profits! Missing this opportunity, it would be hard to find another like it."
Just the two thousand four hundred and eighty-three spirit crystals alone were equivalent to two hundred and forty-eight thousand three hundred silver coins, roughly the wealth of a seventh-rate clan.
Those one hundred and seventy-four True Martial Treasures could sell for at least two to three million silver coins.
The hundreds of bottles of pills, large quantities of blood pills, dozens of catties of spirit meat, and dozens of cultivation manuals and martial techniques could together fetch several million silver coins.
The spoils from this battle with the young martial artists of the various commanderies were enormous. The wealth Zhang Ruochen now possessed rivaled the total assets of a top-tier seventh-rate clan.
The entire Lin Clan's property combined wasn't as much as what he had.
After all, Zhang Ruochen now held the wealth of nearly a hundred Mysterious Extreme Realm martial artists—and geniuses among them at that, far richer than ordinary Mysterious Extreme Realm martial artists.
"Zi Qian only cares about spirit crystals and silver coins. Giving her two thousand spirit crystals should be enough. I'll keep the remainder for myself. As for those thirty thousand silver coins, she probably won't care about them."
Zhang Ruochen set aside two thousand spirit crystals separately, planning to give them to Zi Qian tomorrow. After all, of those ninety-eight Mysterious Extreme Realm martial artists, ninety-six had died by her sword. Zhang Ruochen had only kept a small number of spirit crystals and silver coins.
After organizing everything, Zhang Ruochen picked up the only fifth-grade True Martial Treasure—a crescent-shaped blade—and held it in his hand.
This was Qing You's weapon, called the "Soul-Reaping Scythe."
Even without using true qi to activate the inscription patterns, Zhang Ruochen could clearly feel the cold aura emanating from the Soul-Reaping Scythe.
"As expected of a fifth-grade True Martial Treasure—sharper than the Flash Soul Sword and definitely more powerful. Worth over a hundred thousand silver coins."
The Flash Soul Sword was only a fourth-grade True Martial Treasure, incomparable to the Soul-Reaping Scythe.
Just then, Zhang Ruochen heard Huang Yanchen's voice from behind him: "Lech... you... what did you do to me?"
Seeing Huang Yanchen awake, Zhang Ruochen felt a slight relief. He walked over, intending to clarify what had happened last night.
Perhaps last night, he had indeed been too rash.
But Zhang Ruochen forgot to put down the Soul-Reaping Scythe. Carrying a sharp, cold, gleaming scythe, he walked toward Huang Yanchen. There was even a hint of a smile on his face.
Originally, Zhang Ruochen's smile was meant to be friendly, but to Huang Yanchen, it appeared entirely different.
She thought Zhang Ruochen was going to silence her.
Looking at the Soul-Reaping Scythe in Zhang Ruochen's hand and then at his sinister smile, Huang Yanchen was terrified. Her delicate body curled up slightly as she forced herself to stay calm and asked, "You... what are you going to do?"
Even though she was a Mysterious Extreme Realm Great Perfection powerhouse, she was still a young, beautiful woman at her most vulnerable moment. How could she not be afraid?
At this moment, in her eyes, Zhang Ruochen was nothing less than a ruthless demon, clearly about to commit the violent act of rape followed by murder.
Zhang Ruochen stared at Huang Yanchen, showing a kind smile, and gently waved his hand, laughing, "Miss Huang, don't be afraid! You can't entirely blame me for what happened last night, can you?"
As Zhang Ruochen waved his hand, the Soul-Reaping Scythe in his hand also moved.
What was originally a friendly gesture instantly became extremely menacing.
Huang Yanchen clenched her teeth, staring at the Soul-Reaping Scythe in Zhang Ruochen's hand. She sighed inwardly—the situation was stronger than she was. She had to stabilize him first.
Under Zhang Ruochen's "threat," forced and humiliated, Huang Yanchen nodded, biting her teeth, and said softly, "You're not wrong. It's all my fault."
So humiliating! So humiliating!
This demon had not only violated her but was now forcing her to admit fault!
In her heart, Huang Yanchen's hatred for Zhang Ruochen had reached another level.
"Stabilize him first, stabilize him first. Even admitting fault is fine. As long as my cultivation recovers, I will repay today's humiliation tenfold." Huang Yanchen thought to herself.
Zhang Ruochen nodded, feeling that Huang Yanchen could still be saved—at least her attitude in admitting fault was proper.
So he continued with a smile, "Do you know where you went wrong?"
This was too much. Huang Yanchen was truly enraged!
But seeing the Soul-Reaping Scythe in Zhang Ruochen's hand, she yielded once again, her voice trembling slightly: "I... I shouldn't have bathed in the pool... I was wrong... It was all me seducing you. It has nothing to do with you."
Huang Yanchen swore that once her injuries healed, she would tear Zhang Ruochen limb from limb.
Zhang Ruochen nodded again, thinking to himself, "Just as I suspected—she set a trap to harm me. Fortunately, I severely injured her first. Otherwise, last night, my fate would have been worse than Wei Chi Tiancong's. At the very least, she would have crippled my legs."
Zhang Ruochen gave Huang Yanchen a deep look, then sat down by the bed and said meaningfully, "It's good that you can recognize your mistakes and correct them. It's not that big a deal anyway. I won't dwell on it. Ah! You rest and recover first. I have things to do, so I need to go out. I'll come see you tonight."
Seeing Zhang Ruochen walk out, Huang Yanchen's face turned even paler. This beastly demon was coming back tonight?