# Chapter 131: Challenging the Seventh
Liu Ning gripped a golden sword hilt at her waist and drew out a three-foot-long fish-scale soft sword.
The sword light flashed, knocking down all the silver needles.
"Clang! Clang!"
Zi Qian executed a speed-type martial technique, her steps as light as a gentle breeze, constantly changing directions as she shot out clusters of silver needles, forming wave after wave of needle rain.
Liu Ning's brows furrowed tightly. She wanted to attack Zi Qian but was forced back by the needle rain, able only to continuously swing her sword in defense, causing her true qi to drain rapidly.
A stalemate developed on the challenge platform.
"Is she... a porcupine? How can she hide so many needles on her body?" Duanmu Xingling looked at Zhang Ruochen, speaking with a half-smile.
"How would I know?" Zhang Ruochen replied.
"You don't even know?" Duanmu Xingling was very surprised.
Zhang Ruochen gently shook his head, continuing to watch the challenge platform. He had already figured out Zi Qian's tactic. She knew she was no match for Liu Ning, so she used silver needles to exhaust Liu Ning's true qi.
If Liu Ning couldn't break through Zi Qian's silver needle rain, then Liu Ning would surely lose.
As Zhang Ruochen expected, after fifteen minutes, Liu Ning's true qi was heavily depleted, and she was ambushed from behind by Zi Qian.
By the time Liu Ning reacted, Zi Qian's sword was already resting against her neck.
Challenge victory.
"Her sword speed is so fast. Without hundreds of thousands of practice sessions, one couldn't possibly swing a sword that quickly. I feel like she's been professionally trained as an assassin?" Duanmu Xingling narrowed her eyes, feeling that Zi Qian's sword technique resembled that of an assassin from the Underworld Gate.
Although Zi Qian had deliberately concealed it, traces remained that allowed Duanmu Xingling to discern some clues.
Zhang Ruochen's heart stirred, and he smiled: "If she were really an assassin, wouldn't I have been killed by her long ago?"
"That's true." Duanmu Xingling nodded.
Zi Qian's final sword strike was indeed stunning, completely formless and invisible. Only Xuan List martial artists could see the trajectory of her sword; the other martial artists hadn't seen it at all.
Zi Qian defeated Liu Ning and naturally became the new ninth-ranked expert of the Western Academy.
Liu Ning automatically dropped one position, becoming tenth.
Mo Qinglong was pushed out of the top ten, becoming eleventh.
Next, many people went to challenge the top ten martial artists, with Zi Qian receiving the most challengers. Everyone thought she was the weakest.
But none who challenged her succeeded.
Many people were actually stronger than Zi Qian, yet they somehow lost to her in a daze. By the time they realized what happened, Zi Qian's sword was already pointing at their necks, leaving them unable to move.
A senior sister ranked seventeenth in the Western Academy, after losing to Zi Qian's sword, walked off the challenge platform very angrily: "How could this happen? My strength is clearly greater than hers, so how could I lose to her?"
Only Xuan List martial artists could see Zi Qian's formidable aspects:
First, her speed was her greatest advantage. Her strange sword technique made her impossible to defend against.
Second, her eyesight and hearing far exceeded ordinary people. She could detect danger in advance, hear the sound of an opponent's attack before it came, and then make the most correct counter-strategy in the shortest possible time.
Third, her combat experience was extremely rich, far surpassing other students in this regard.
Zhang Ruochen also nodded. Zi Qian originally had a weakness—her physique was slightly inferior to those top geniuses.
In the past three months, she had refined five drops of Half-Saint True Liquid, which made up for this shortcoming. Her strength had also advanced by leaps and bounds.
Under everyone's gaze, Zi Qian walked toward the challenge platform and stood to Zhang Ruochen's right, imitating Duanmu Xingling and Zhang Ruochen by crossing her arms over her chest: "Aren't you going to challenge?"
"The time is about right."
Zhang Ruochen walked onto the challenge platform and stood there, saying: "I want to challenge the seventh-ranked."
The student ranked seventh in the Western Academy was named Sikong Shu.
He was an old student who had been in the Western Academy for eight years. His martial arts cultivation had reached the peak of the Mysterious Extreme Realm Great Perfection four years ago. He also hadn't broken through because he wanted to enter the Intermediate Ruins.
With Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, even challenging the fifth-ranked Ju Hailan would give him a high chance of victory.
But Zhang Ruochen didn't want to be too flashy. As long as he could qualify to enter the Intermediate Ruins, that was enough. There was no need to put himself at the center of the storm.
Challenging the seventh-ranked was relatively conservative.
Even though he wanted to keep a low profile, challenging Sikong Shu as a new student still caused quite a stir. Many people came over, wanting to watch this battle.
"Do you think Zhang Ruochen has a chance of succeeding?" asked an old student ranked in the top fifty.
Another student who had reached the Mysterious Extreme Realm Great Perfection said: "If it were before Zi Qian made her move, I might not have believed it. But since even Zi Qian could defeat the eighth-ranked Liu Ning, and Zhang Ruochen's strength is above Zi Qian's, he might have a chance to defeat Sikong Shu."
"That's right! The new students this year have very high talent. Their strength can't be measured by pure martial arts cultivation alone."
"The new students this year are too dominant. Just three months after enrollment, they've already defeated the top ten experts of the academy. How can we old students who've been here for years face this?"
...
...
More and more students gathered below the challenge platform. Even the vice deans of the three academies and the dean of the Western Academy had come, standing not far away, looking toward the challenge platform. Clearly, they were also looking forward to this battle.
The more outstanding Zhang Ruochen performed, the better it was for the Martial Market Academy.
Geniuses were the most important resource for any power.
Sikong Shu was built like an iron tower, with a back as broad as a tiger's and a waist as thick as a bear's. His body was covered in solid muscle. Although he was only twenty-five, his face was full of beard, making him look like a burly man with a blue beard.
Holding a black iron staff, he climbed the steps and stood ten steps away from Zhang Ruochen.
"Boom!"
He placed the iron staff on the ground, and the ground immediately let out a loud noise, shaking violently.
Sikong Shu laughed: "Zhang Ruochen, I know your cultivation is strong and your talent is high. You helped the Western Academy win first place among the four academies' new students. I, your senior brother, admire you. But you're also quite arrogant, daring to challenge me. How confident are you that you can win?"
"One hundred percent." Zhang Ruochen said.
"One hundred percent? You look down on me too much?" Sikong Shu was somewhat displeased.
Zhang Ruochen said calmly without arrogance: "For a martial artist, once you choose to challenge an opponent, you must have absolute confidence in victory. If you don't even have the confidence to win, then you've already lost half the battle before you've even fought."
"Well said. If you don't challenge, that's fine, but once you do, you must have the conviction to win."
Sikong Shu smiled mysteriously: "But today, you've chosen the wrong person. It's destined that you will lose to me. Come! Let me see how strong our Western Academy's number one new genius really is."
Zhang Ruochen felt a powerful energy fluctuation from Sikong Shu's body, so he didn't dare to be careless and became more cautious.
Everyone in the Western Academy's top ten had real skills. One slight misstep could lead to defeat on the challenge platform.
Gripping the Flash Soul Sword, he infused Yujing True Qi into the sword, activating all fourteen inscriptions within.
Four "Force" type inscriptions, four "Ice" type inscriptions, four "Lightning" type inscriptions, and two "Light" type inscriptions.
This was the first time Zhang Ruochen had activated all the inscriptions of the Flash Soul Sword, reaching its strongest state.
Originally weighing fifty-three jin, the Flash Soul Sword, under the enhancement of the four Force-type inscriptions, reached a weight of four hundred fifty-three jin.
At the same time, cold air, sword light, and electric currents coursed through the sword body. Streams of sword qi flowed around Zhang Ruochen's body, as if completely merged with him.
"Is this the high-level realm of Sword Following the Heart?"
Sikong Shu knew that Zhang Ruochen had reached the high-level realm of Sword Following the Heart. His expression turned serious as he infused true qi into the Tungsten Star Cold Iron Staff in his hand.
The Tungsten Star Cold Iron Staff was a fifth-rank True Martial Treasure, one rank higher than the Flash Soul Sword in Zhang Ruochen's hand.
The staff contained twenty-one inscriptions, of which fifteen were "Force" type and six were "Ice" type.
The more pure the inscriptions on a True Martial Treasure, the stronger its power.
The Tungsten Star Cold Iron Staff only had two types of inscriptions, making it quite pure, so it was a top-tier weapon among fifth-rank True Martial Treasures.
Activating all twenty-one inscriptions, the weight of the Tungsten Star Cold Iron Staff reached one thousand six hundred eight jin, extremely heavy. When placed on the ground, it seemed capable of cracking the earth.
Sikong Shu swung the Tungsten Star Cold Iron Staff with one hand, and a bone-chilling cold air emanated from the staff. Snowflakes appeared on the challenge platform, and a layer of white frost condensed on the ground. The temperature in the entire air was dropping rapidly.
A seemingly casual swing of the staff contained exquisite martial arts skill.
"Not good. Sikong Shu has also been hiding his strength." Duanmu Xingling began to worry for Zhang Ruochen, saying: "With the strength Sikong Shu is showing now, he's already no weaker than the fifth-ranked Ju Hailan, and might even be stronger."
The dean of the Western Academy also narrowed his eyes slightly, revealing a hint of a smile: "I didn't expect Sikong Shu to have cultivated the 'Tai'a Cold Ice Art' to the eighth layer. With his strength, he can already contend with those martial artists ranked at the bottom of the Xuan List."
The vice dean of the Southern Academy smiled: "Congratulations, Dean. The Western Academy has another student at the Xuan List martial artist level."
"Alas! It's a pity for Zhang Ruochen. If Sikong Shu hadn't broken through to the eighth layer of the 'Tai'a Cold Ice Art,' he would still have had a chance to win. But as for now, he doesn't have a single chance." The vice dean of the Eastern Academy said with regret.
Although he seemed to be expressing regret, he was actually sneering inwardly.
Because of Zhang Ruochen, the Eastern Academy had ranked third this year, so the vice dean of the Eastern Academy naturally disliked Zhang Ruochen. Seeing that Zhang Ruochen was about to fail in his challenge, he couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.
The dean of the Western Academy smiled faintly: "Even if he fails in his challenge, it doesn't matter. He still has one more chance to challenge."