Chapter 94: Fourth Prince

As Zhang Ruochen walked out of Yellow Character Number One, he saw Duanmu Xingling, dressed in a cyan garment.

Zhang Ruochen was slightly surprised and greeted her, "Greetings, Senior Sister Duanmu."

Duanmu Xingling stared at Zhang Ruochen emerging from inside, even more astonished. Her beautiful eyes blinked repeatedly as she asked, "You're actually fine?"

Zhang Ruochen looked somewhat confused. "What could happen to me?"

"Sister Chen didn't kill you?" Duanmu Xingling asked.

Zhang Ruochen grew even more puzzled. "Why would she want to kill me? And... how do you know she wanted to kill me?"

Duanmu Xingling, as if caught doing something wrong, quickly tried to cover it up. She squinted her eyes and smiled. "No... nothing. I was just guessing!"

Inside, Duanmu Xingling was displeased, thinking to herself, *Could it be that the bad thing I did last night has already been discovered?*

Then she carefully examined Zhang Ruochen from head to toe and asked again, "Is Sister Chen still inside?"

Zhang Ruochen nodded. "Last night, I had a misunderstanding with her. She's badly injured now. You should go check on her."

"How could she be injured?" Duanmu Xingling exclaimed.

In her view, it should have been Zhang Ruochen who was injured last night.

Duanmu Xingling didn't bother listening to Zhang Ruochen's explanation. She turned into a blur and rushed straight into Yellow Character Number One.

Zhang Ruochen shook his head and walked out of the Dragon Martial Hall.

The moment he stepped outside, he caused a huge commotion.

"Look! Look! Zhang Ruochen came out!"

"He... he's not injured?"

"He didn't get his legs broken?"

"That's impossible! He must have internal injuries. Maybe his cultivation has been crippled!"

"I bet he was castrated!"

...

It was well known that in the past hundred years, no male student from the Western Courtyard who entered the Dragon Martial Hall had ever come out intact.

Last night, those outer-courtyard students had been waiting outside the Dragon Martial Hall, just to watch the show.

Now that Zhang Ruochen had walked out unscathed, no one believed it.

More than a dozen students from the Yunwu Commandery immediately rushed over. Liu Chengfeng squeezed through the crowd and asked, "Your Highness, the Ninth Prince, are you sure you don't have any internal injuries?"

"No," Zhang Ruochen shook his head.

Liu Chengfeng pressed further, "Didn't you run into those three female demons last night?"

"I did encounter one," Zhang Ruochen said.

"Who?" Liu Chengfeng asked.

"Huang Yanchen," Zhang Ruochen replied.

At the sound of that name, the students nearby all sucked in a breath of cold air.

Liu Chengfeng's face changed. "Two years ago, the top freshman, Yuchi Tiancong, had his legs broken by her and was thrown out of the Dragon Martial Hall. She didn't do anything to you?"

Zhang Ruochen thought about what happened last night and decided it wasn't something to spread around. "I'll tell you about it privately," he said.

Zhang Ruochen and Liu Chengfeng walked through the crowd to a slightly secluded path.

Liu Chengfeng could no longer contain his curiosity. "Huang Yanchen is a notorious female demon. Anyone who crosses her ends up badly. She really didn't do anything to you?"

Zhang Ruochen's expression turned serious. "She did set a trap to harm me."

Liu Chengfeng's face went pale. "What kind of trap?"

Zhang Ruochen said, "Something similar to what happened to Yuchi Tiancong."

"What do you mean?" Liu Chengfeng asked.

Zhang Ruochen said, "She was bathing in the pool, and I saw her."

Liu Chengfeng's mouth fell open. "How much did you see?"

"Pretty much all of it," Zhang Ruochen sighed.

Liu Chengfeng pinched Zhang Ruochen all over to confirm he was truly unharmed, then asked again, "You should know that two years ago, Yuchi Tiancong didn't even see anything, and she still broke his legs. This year, you saw everything. That female demon would let you off?"

Zhang Ruochen said, "It wasn't that big a deal. She apologized to me, and I forgave her."

"She apologized to you?" Liu Chengfeng was stunned speechless.

To force the female demon to apologize—Liu Chengfeng had no idea how to express his admiration for Zhang Ruochen. He realized he understood Zhang Ruochen even less now.

Zhang Ruochen said, "It's best not to spread this around. Since she's already apologized, I shouldn't ruin her reputation."

"Right! Women value their reputation above all else!" Liu Chengfeng nodded solemnly. "Don't worry. My lips are sealed tight. I won't breathe a word."

"Good. I need to go see Zi Qian first."

Zhang Ruochen clasped his hands behind his back and headed toward Zi Qian's residence.

After handing over two thousand spirit crystals to Zi Qian, Zhang Ruochen planned to return to the Dragon Martial Hall.

He decided to go into seclusion for a while, aiming to break through to the Mysterious Extreme Realm later stage as soon as possible.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen's ears twitched slightly. He heard a sharp sound of something cutting through the air and sensed danger. He tapped his toes and leaped back two zhang.

A jade-white spear flew past above Zhang Ruochen's head and stabbed into the ground where he had been standing.

"Boom!"

The impact of the spear was immense, cracking the white stone floor.

Zhang Ruochen's eyes darkened. "Who is it?"

A group of over twenty students in white martial robes emerged from the woods, surrounding Zhang Ruochen.

Some were freshmen, some were seniors.

All of them wore cold, sneering expressions, looking at Zhang Ruochen as if he were already dead.

Feng Zhilin stepped out from among the twenty-plus students, pulling the spear from the ground. With a flick of his arm, true qi surged along the spear.

Feng Zhilin's eyes were filled with killing intent. "Are you Zhang Ruochen?"

Zhang Ruochen glanced at the surrounding students, showing no fear. "That's right. I am Zhang Ruochen."

"Do you know who I am?" Feng Zhilin asked.

Zhang Ruochen had seen Feng Zhilin once in the Demon Ridge, so he naturally knew who he was. He said calmly, "Feng Zhilin, the proud son of the Fang family from the Four Directions Commandery."

"Haha! Since you know my name, you should know that Feng Zhiyi is my younger brother. You killed my brother in the Demon Ridge. If I kill you now, you have no complaints, do you?" Feng Zhilin's killing intent grew even stronger.

A student standing beside Feng Zhilin laughed cruelly. "A life for a life, revenge for blood. Even the academy's elders can't interfere with this."

Another student chimed in, "Zhang Ruochen, if you have the guts, fight Senior Brother Feng. Life and death are up to fate, wealth and honor are up to heaven. Do you dare?"

Not far away, a student from the Yunwu Commandery happened to pass by. Seeing Zhang Ruochen surrounded by over twenty students, he immediately rushed over and said sternly, "Feng Zhilin, don't go too far. My ninth brother is only at the Mysterious Extreme Realm middle stage, while you're at the Mysterious Extreme Realm great extreme stage. If he fights you to the death, wouldn't that be suicide?"

Zhang Ruochen was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected someone to dare speak up for him at a time like this.

He looked at the student who had spoken. It was a fat man, weighing at least three hundred jin, round as a ball.

*He called me 'ninth brother.' Could he be the Fourth Prince of the Yunwu Commandery, Zhang Shaochu?* Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.

Zhang Shaochu had joined the Martial Market Academy last year.

Zhang Ruochen stared at the fat man, unable to connect him with the Fourth Prince of the Yunwu Commandery.

After all, the princes Zhang Ruochen had met were mostly elegant and handsome. None were as fat as the Fourth Prince, Zhang Shaochu.

But Zhang Ruochen had no good feelings for the other princes. He did, however, have a good impression of this fourth brother. After all, it took a lot of courage to stand up and speak for him at a time like this.

In fact, Zhang Shaochu had a good relationship with the former sickly Ninth Prince. Yesterday, when he learned that Zhang Ruochen had become the top freshman, he was so excited he couldn't sleep all night.

This morning, he had planned to go see his accomplished ninth brother.

On the way, he saw Feng Zhilin leading over twenty students, surrounding Zhang Ruochen, shouting threats.

As an elder brother, Zhang Shaochu naturally had to help, so he rushed out.

Feng Zhilin glanced at Zhang Shaochu with contempt and sneered, "Zhang Shaozhu, haven't you been beaten enough? Today, Zhang Ruochen is going to die, and no one can save him. Get out of the way. I'm too lazy to deal with you today."

Zhang Shaochu's face flushed red. Normally, he wouldn't dare provoke Feng Zhilin, but seeing Zhang Ruochen surrounded and outnumbered, he finally mustered his courage. "This prince's name is Zhang Shaochu, not Zhang Shaozhu."

"Haha!"

The twenty-plus students all burst into laughter, doubling over.

Feng Zhilin also mocked, "You're fatter than a pig, and you still say you're not one?"

"So the prince of the Yunwu Commandery is a pig. Do you think his mother slept with a pig to give birth to him?" a martial artist from the Four Directions Commandery laughed without restraint.

They all knew Zhang Shaochu too well. Although he was a prince, he was often bullied by them. Maybe he had been beaten so much that later, even if they pissed on his head, he would endure it and never fight back.

That martial artist from the Four Directions Commandery spread his legs and laughed. "Zhang Shaozhu, come over here. Crawl between my legs in front of your ninth brother, and I'll let you off today. Otherwise, you know what will happen."

Zhang Shaochu had endured for a whole year, but today he could no longer hold back. His face turned ashen, and he roared, "Nie Xuan, this prince will fight you to the death today!"

Zhang Shaochu exploded with power. His already round body swelled even more as true qi surged through him. He struck a palm toward Nie Xuan.

Zhang Shaochu was at the Mysterious Extreme Realm small extreme stage, no weakling.

Nie Xuan sneered coldly. He reached out, grabbed Zhang Shaochu's arm, and punched him hard in the chest with his other hand.

Nie Xuan was at the Mysterious Extreme Realm middle extreme stage. How could Zhang Shaochu possibly be his match?

"Pfft!"

Zhang Shaochu spat blood, his body flying backward.

But it wasn't over. Nie Xuan had no intention of letting Zhang Shaochu off. He said coldly, "Since you want to be the bird that sticks its head out, I'll teach you the price today."

Nie Xuan charged forward, grabbed Zhang Shaochu's arm as he was still airborne, and punched him three more times.

"Pfft!"

Zhang Shaochu spat three more mouthfuls of blood before crashing heavily to the ground.

Nie Xuan stepped on Zhang Shaochu's head and said coldly, "Someone, break this fat pig's arms and legs, strip him naked, and throw him into the beast manure pit. Let him stay there for three days to cool his head. See if he dares to stick his neck out again."

Zhang Ruochen saw Zhang Shaochu's blood-covered face. His fists clenched tightly, rage burning in his heart, his eyes turning bloodshot. "Nie Xuan, do you believe I'll cripple you?"

...

Feitian Yu begs for recommendation tickets! Recommendation tickets! Recommendation tickets! Important things must be said three times.