Chapter 116: The Assassin Arrives
Duanmu Xingling calmed her irritated mood and said with exasperation, "Two months from now is the quarterly assessment. The assessment is divided into two parts: the first is a freshman competition jointly hosted by the four outer academies. The second is an internal ranking assessment for the Western Academy. Do you have any confidence?"
"Confidence in what?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Duanmu Xingling said, "You are the top freshman of the Western Academy, so naturally you must shoulder the responsibility of winning honor for the Western Academy. If you can lead the Western Academy's freshmen to defeat the other three academies, you will definitely receive a large amount of merit points as a reward."
From outside the door came Huang Yanchen's voice, cold and icy: "Your talent may indeed be first among the Western Academy's freshmen, but your practical combat ability may not necessarily be the best. Not to mention that the other three academies are filled with experts and geniuses. Becoming the top freshman of all four academies is no easy task."
Zhang Ruochen and Duanmu Xingling both showed surprised expressions, staring at Huang Yanchen as she walked in from outside.
Duanmu Xingling asked, "Chen Jie, why are you here?"
At this moment, Huang Yanchen's expression was very displeased. "I went to Yellow Character Number One to find Zhang Ruochen, but he wasn't there, so I guessed he must be here with you. Xingling, I never expected that you would actually fall for this lecher."
"No! Chen Jie, let me explain..." Duanmu Xingling said.
"Enough!" Huang Yanchen stared at Zhang Ruochen, took out a small jade bottle, and handed it over. "Lecher, this is a drop of Half-Saint True Liquid. I want to exchange it with you for a space treasure."
Zhang Ruochen stared at the small jade bottle, then looked at Huang Yanchen, furrowing his brow slightly. He was quite dissatisfied with her attitude and shook his head. "Sorry! Vice Dean Qinghua has already promised to apply for ten drops of Half-Saint True Liquid for me. I don't need Half-Saint True Liquid right now."
In truth, Zhang Ruochen felt somewhat guilty toward Huang Yanchen and had even considered giving her a space treasure. But given Huang Yanchen's current attitude, Zhang Ruochen couldn't bring himself to give her the space treasure.
Huang Yanchen's sapphire-blue pupils widened slightly, releasing a chill. "Duanmu Xingling could exchange one drop of Half-Saint True Liquid for a space jade bracelet with you, but I can't? It seems you two are indeed quite close. Fine then! Name your price."
Duanmu Xingling, afraid that Huang Yanchen would misunderstand, kept signaling Zhang Ruochen with her eyes.
Zhang Ruochen pretended not to notice and said, "Five million silver coins. Not a single coin less."
Hearing Zhang Ruochen's words, Huang Yanchen directly drew her sword, pointing the tip at Zhang Ruochen's throat. "Say that again."
Zhang Ruochen completely ignored the sword before him, staring into Huang Yanchen's eyes and said calmly, "Five million silver coins. Not a single coin less."
Huang Yanchen had always had a fiery temper, and Zhang Ruochen's words made her anger surge. "Now I understand why Duanmu Xingling tried so hard to stop me when I wanted to kill you back then. So the two of you had already conspired together! In that case, why should I let you off? Today, I'll make you pay for what you did that night. From now on, you can become a eunuch!"
Huang Yanchen had originally come to find Zhang Ruochen to exchange for a space treasure, and had even intended to mend their relationship.
But when she discovered that Zhang Ruochen was living together with her best friend, an inexplicable rage rose in her heart, a feeling of being deceived.
"Shua!"
Huang Yanchen twisted her five fingers, slashing her battle sword diagonally downward, forming a sword flower that cut toward Zhang Ruochen's legs.
Zhang Ruochen felt a chill in his lower body and was startled. He immediately retreated backward, narrowly dodging Huang Yanchen's strike.
Huang Yanchen refused to let up, gathering sword energy again and thrusting forward.
"Bang!"
Duanmu Xingling also drew her sword, swinging it backhand to break Huang Yanchen's attack. "Chen Jie, calm down first. Let us explain..."
Seeing Duanmu Xingling intervene, Huang Yanchen's anger grew even stronger. Her sword strikes came like a gale, forming a massive vortex of sword energy.
"Duanmu Xingling, we've never truly settled who's stronger. Today, let's have a match and see who comes out on top!"
Huang Yanchen's long hair flew wildly, her robes fluttering, her figure graceful. As she swung her battle sword, she drew Duanmu Xingling into the vortex of sword energy.
"Boom!"
The two powerful sword energies collided, shattering a huge hole in the roof of the building. Glazed tiles kept rolling down.
The two women rushed out through the hole, leaping across eaves and walking on walls, their sword energies like rainbows, making the tiles clatter beneath their feet.
The sounds of battle gradually faded away. Zhang Ruochen looked at the mess inside the room and felt utterly speechless. "Senior Sister Huang is truly a destructive force. Wherever she goes, she always manages to tear down buildings. Looks like I'll have to find a new place to stay again!"
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen sensed a strong killing intent. Every hair on his body stood on end in an instant.
Almost instinctively, Zhang Ruochen lunged forward and rolled once on the ground.
"Shua!"
A green poison-tipped arrow pierced through the wall, flying past Zhang Ruochen's neck by a hair's breadth, grazing his skin and leaving a bloody scratch.
In an instant, the skin around the scratch turned purple-black.
Zhang Ruochen immediately took an antidote pill from the Time Crystal and swallowed it.
The killing intent still hadn't disappeared, like a venomous snake hidden in the shadows, ready to fire a second arrow, a third arrow at any moment.
Zhang Ruochen had cultivated Jade Pure True Qi, which could purify many toxins. But the poison on the green arrow was extremely potent. Even after taking the antidote pill and circulating his Jade Pure True Qi, he could only suppress the spread of the poison.
"Have the assassins from the Underworld Gate finally arrived?"
Zhang Ruochen lay on the ground, not daring to move, quietly releasing his Space Domain.
Under the detection of his Space Domain, Zhang Ruochen sensed the presence of two assassins. One was hiding inside this very building, only seven meters away from Zhang Ruochen.
The other assassin was farther away, concealed among the leaves of an iron pine tree forty meters away. If not for his Space Domain, Zhang Ruochen would never have discovered her.
She must have been the one who fired the poison arrow.
One close, one far—two assassins.
Zhang Ruochen could sense their martial arts cultivation. Both were at the Mysterious Extreme Realm Great Perfection, with very thick true qi. Either one of them had the power to kill Zhang Ruochen.
"I just finished training at the Divine Power Hall, and the assassins come knocking right away. What a coincidence? Could it be that among the twelve genius students who entered the Divine Power Hall, besides Zi Qian, there are other assassins from the Underworld Gate?"
Zhang Ruochen's mind raced. He felt the situation was extremely dangerous and very wrong.
"I hid in Mysterious Character Number One to borrow Senior Sister Duanmu's strength to deal with these assassins. Huang Yanchen suddenly appeared and lured Senior Sister Duanmu away, and then the assassins showed up. How could this be such a coincidence? Could Huang Yanchen also be an assassin from the Underworld Gate?"
Zhang Ruochen held his breath, using the power of his Space Domain to conceal his aura, formulating a plan in his mind.
His greatest advantage right now was that he could detect the positions of the two assassins, while they couldn't detect his.
In that case, he should move as quickly as possible to eliminate the closer assassin first, then deal with the farther one.
But both assassins were at the Mysterious Extreme Realm Great Perfection, far stronger than Zhang Ruochen. Killing even one would be extremely difficult, let alone both.
Just then, Zhang Ruochen sensed Xiao Hei within his Space Domain.
Xiao Hei had gone to steal two more books, holding them under his cat paws, walking on his hind legs with his head held high as he entered through the main door, completely unaware that two powerful assassins were hiding in Mysterious Character Number One.
Zhang Ruochen summoned the Cosmic Divine Wood Map from his Qi Lake, held it in his hand, and infused it with true qi, using the Cosmic Divine Wood Map to send a message to Xiao Hei.
"What is Zhang Ruochen up to? Does he want to seal me back into the Cosmic Divine Wood Map again?" Xiao Hei felt the sealing power emanating from the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, as if trying to pull him into the map.
Just then, Zhang Ruochen's voice reached Xiao Hei's ears through the power of the Cosmic Divine Wood Map.
After hearing Zhang Ruochen's message, Xiao Hei's cat ears perked up, and his round eyes widened as he looked in the two directions Zhang Ruochen had indicated.
"As expected of assassins. Their concealment skills are indeed impressive. If I hadn't looked carefully, I wouldn't have found their traces. Today, this emperor will have some fun with you!"
Xiao Hei chuckled, then with a "sou," he darted into the grass.
With Xiao Hei's help, Zhang Ruochen's confidence grew significantly.
"Lightning Halberd!"
Zhang Ruochen's martial soul was both a Time-Space Martial Soul and carried the attribute of lightning.
Under the impetus of his true qi, he mobilized the spiritual energy within a fifty-meter radius, condensing it into strands of electric light.
The fine strands of electric light gathered together, intertwining and growing thicker and thicker.
"Crack!"
A bolt of lightning streaked through the void, striking the assassin hiding seven meters away from Zhang Ruochen.
"Pfft!"
The assassin, caught off guard, was struck by the lightning, smoke rising from his body. He suffered severe injuries and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
...
There will be another chapter at noon!