Chapter 154: The Return Journey
Zhang Ruochen had left the palace ahead of Minister Ning, but encountered Tuoba Linsu on the way.
Tuoba Linsu gifted Zhang Ruochen a seventh-rank True Martial Treasure-level war sword, then dragged him off to the most luxurious tavern in Qianshui Royal City for a drinking session.
By the time Zhang Ruochen finished drinking, it was nearly evening. When he returned to the manor, the Yunwu Commandery King had already been escorted into the palace by Minister Ning.
Although he had been drinking, Zhang Ruochen's mind remained clear. He drew the war sword Tuoba Linsu had given him, and with a *shua* sound, pulled it from its sheath.
*Hua!*
A dazzling white light radiated from the blade.
Faintly, Zhang Ruochen heard a dragon's roar within the sword.
He looked at the three characters engraved on the hilt and read them aloud: "Snow Dragon Sword!"
The Snow Dragon Sword was four feet seven inches long, two fingers wide, with a hilt shaped like a dragon's head and a tip shaped like a dragon's tail.
The sword body contained a total of forty inscriptions: thirty were ice-type inscriptions, and ten were light-type inscriptions.
Tuoba Linsu was indeed generous, directly gifting a seventh-rank True Martial Treasure-level sword. This gift was far too precious!
Zhang Ruochen infused his true qi into the sword body, simultaneously activating seventeen of the ice-type inscriptions within the Snow Dragon Sword.
With his current cultivation, he could only activate seventeen inscriptions at most. If he tried to force more, he wouldn't be able to control such immense power. If he were careless, the power of the inscriptions might even injure him.
"Heavenly Heart Points the Way!"
"Heavenly Heart Sword Bell!"
"Heavenly Heart Full Moon!"
...
He practiced swordplay under the moonlight. The sword body emitted bone-chilling cold, condensing white snowflakes in the air that drifted down with the wind.
Half an hour later, Zhang Ruochen's true qi was largely depleted, and a pain shot through the wound on his chest, so he stopped.
"When Senior Sister Duanmu performs her sword techniques, she can achieve 'ten zhang of flying snow.' Although I can now condense snowflakes, I'm still far from her level." Zhang Ruochen shook his head slightly, becoming even more aware of the inadequacy of his current martial arts cultivation.
"If I could break through to the Mysterious Extreme Great Extreme Position, perhaps I could also reach the level of 'ten zhang of flying snow.'"
Zhang Ruochen pressed his hand to the wound on his chest, took a healing pill, and entered the Time-Space Crystal to begin recuperating.
After roughly a day and a night of rest inside the Time-Space Crystal, combined with the medicinal power of the pill, Zhang Ruochen's injuries finally healed completely.
When he emerged from the Time-Space Crystal, it was already the next morning.
With his injuries fully recovered, Zhang Ruochen resumed his sword practice, training in the seventh move of the Heavenly Heart Sword Technique: Heavenly Heart Shatters the Void.
His mind was free of distractions, fully immersed in the cultivation of the sword technique. As for his marriage to Huang Yanchen, he left that to the Yunwu Commandery King to handle.
Ever since reaching the peak realm of Sword Follows the Heart, Zhang Ruochen's progress in learning sword techniques had been remarkably fast. It took him only a month to master all the remaining six moves of the Heavenly Heart Sword Technique.
With that, Zhang Ruochen had successfully learned all twelve moves of the complete Heavenly Heart Sword Technique, integrating them thoroughly and reaching the Great Perfection realm.
Having mastered the entire set of Heavenly Heart Sword Techniques, the power of his swordplay seemed to increase further, and the transitions between moves became smoother.
This was Great Perfection. Beyond this lay the Transformation Realm.
It was easy to master a set of sword techniques to Great Perfection, but extremely difficult to reach the Transformation Realm. That would have to wait for the future, as he continuously applied the techniques in practice to elevate them to the next level.
Over the past month, Zhang Ruochen had not only practiced sword techniques but also refined ten drops of Half-Saint True Liquid. With the aid of pills, the true qi in his qi lake had reached seventy percent of its capacity, bringing him close to the peak of the Mysterious Extreme Middle Extreme Position.
Ever since the news of Zhang Ruochen's marriage to Huang Yanchen spread, it had caused a huge stir in Qianshui Royal City. Visitors came in an endless stream, including disciples of the ten powerful ministers and commandery kings from various states.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen paid no attention to these matters, focusing entirely on his sword practice. The Yunwu Commandery King handled the reception of the noble descendants from Qianshui Commandery.
Yesterday, the Sifang Commandery King personally came to apologize, bringing a large quantity of precious treasures in hopes of gaining the Yunwu Commandery King's forgiveness.
At the same time, the Sifang Commandery King promised that upon returning to his state, he would immediately withdraw his troops from the Yunwu Commandery, returning all the cities he had occupied, the wealth he had plundered, and the common people he had seized back to the Yunwu Commandery.
The Yunwu Commandery King did not respond, nor did he accept the treasures the Sifang Commandery King had brought. Instead, he rudely sent the Sifang Commandery King away.
After all, the Yunwu Commandery was now allied with the Qianshui Commandery through marriage, and the bride was Commandery Princess Yanchen. Since the Yunwu Commandery King now had bargaining chips, why would he let the Sifang Commandery King off so easily?
Now it was the Sifang Commandery King's turn to be afraid.
With a troubled heart, the Sifang Commandery King returned, only to visit the Yunwu Commandery King again the next day, bringing even more treasures and offering even greater benefits.
The Yunwu Commandery King finally agreed to negotiate peace with the Sifang Commandery King. They closed the doors and began discussing the specific compensation agreement.
Zhang Ruochen didn't know exactly how many cities the Sifang Commandery King had to compensate the Yunwu Commandery. He only saw that when the Sifang Commandery King left, his face was uglier than a bitter gourd.
On the other hand, laughter came from the Yunwu Commandery King's room: "Jiu'er, we're returning to the Yunwu Commandery today!"
"Oh! Alright!"
Zhang Ruochen sheathed his sword, no longer wanting to stay in Qianshui Royal City. He prepared to return to the Martial Market Academy.
There were only twenty days left until the Intermediate Relic Exploration Examination. Zhang Ruochen planned to return to the academy early, cultivate in peace, and strive to break through to the Mysterious Extreme Great Extreme Position before the examination.
"If I reach the Mysterious Extreme Great Extreme Position, I could challenge the Xuan Ranking. I wonder what rank I could achieve on it?"
Of course, before returning to the Martial Market Academy, he had to go back to the Yunwu Commandery first.
If he could bring his mother to the Martial Market Academy, that would be ideal. But the key was whether his mother was willing to leave with him.
When they came to Qianshui Royal City, the Yunwu Commandery King had brought twenty chests of treasures. But when they returned, they took back fifty chests, most of which were the Sifang Commandery King's apology gifts, along with treasures from other visitors.
Overall, this trip to Qianshui Royal City was a huge windfall for the Yunwu Commandery King, and he was in an excellent mood.
The most important thing was the marriage alliance with the Qianshui Commandery.
With the support of the Qianshui Commandery, the Yunwu Commandery King was confident he could develop the Yunwu Commandery into a mid-tier commandery.
Twenty armored soldiers carried the heavy chests of treasures onto the back of the Golden Feather Eagle.
Zhang Ruochen held the Snow Dragon Sword, standing below the Golden Feather Eagle. His body was much smaller than the eagle's claws.
Behind him came Huang Yanchen's voice: "Zhang Ruochen, this commandery princess is also returning to the Martial Market Academy. Can we travel together?"
Before Zhang Ruochen could answer, the Yunwu Commandery King stepped forward to Huang Yanchen and said with a smile, "Commandery Princess, we would be most welcome to have you travel with us."
Huang Yanchen looked at the Yunwu Commandery King and nodded with satisfaction. Using the Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow technique, she soared into the air and landed steadily on the back of the Golden Feather Eagle.
Half a month ago, Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen had already completed their engagement. The wedding date was set for three years later.
In other words, Huang Yanchen could now be considered Zhang Ruochen's fiancée, and their relationship had become somewhat peculiar.
Two days later, the Yunwu Commandery King, Zhang Ruochen, and Huang Yanchen returned to the Yunwu Commandery.
Because news of Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen's marriage had already spread back to the Yunwu Commandery, a grand welcoming ceremony had been prepared by the time they arrived at the palace.
Everyone was immersed in a joyful atmosphere, especially Zhang Ruochen's mother, Consort Lin. When she saw Huang Yanchen, she was absolutely delighted with her.
What surprised Zhang Ruochen even more was that Huang Yanchen also behaved very gently and charmingly, tightly holding Consort Lin's hand, appearing very filial.
Zhang Ruochen could only shake his head and sigh. This Senior Sister Huang was putting on an act far too convincingly!
The only person Zhang Ruochen didn't see at the welcoming ceremony was the Queen.
Actually, this was within Zhang Ruochen's expectations. After all, he had now married the commandery princess of the Qianshui Commandery. How could the Queen possibly be happy?
Behind Consort Lin, Zhang Ruochen spotted Xiao Hei. He grabbed Xiao Hei and asked with a very serious expression, "Xiao Hei, during the time I was away, did anyone try to harm my mother?"
When Zhang Ruochen and the Yunwu Commandery King had gone to the Qianshui Commandery, to prevent the Queen from harming Consort Lin, Zhang Ruochen had left Xiao Hei behind to protect her.
Xiao Hei shook his chubby head and said, "No! Zhang Ruochen, you're overthinking things, which is why you're so tense. You need to understand that in the eyes of that Queen, you are the biggest threat. As for your mother, she's just an ordinary person and poses no threat to her at all. If she killed your mother, it would only anger the Yunwu Commandery King. That Queen wouldn't do something so stupid."
Zhang Ruochen's expression flickered uncertainly, then he nodded and said, "You're right. As long as the Yunwu Commandery King is alive, the Queen won't dare to lay a hand on my mother."
"You're just too caught up in the situation. You care too much about Consort Lin's safety, so you can't see the crux of the problem."
Xiao Hei continued, "Now that you're engaged to the commandery princess of the Qianshui Commandery, the Yunwu Commandery King will only value you more and treat your mother better. Relax! What you should be doing now is improving your martial arts cultivation. Once you become an inner palace disciple of the Martial Market Academy, anyone who wants to kill you will have to think carefully about whether they can withstand the wrath of the Martial Market Bank."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Tomorrow, I'll return to the Martial Market Academy to cultivate in peace and prepare for the Intermediate Relic Exploration Examination."
Xiao Hei took out a green wooden box and let out a mysterious laugh. "This is a pill I refined based on a medieval pill formula. It might be able to help you."
"A pill you refined?"
Zhang Ruochen raised an eyebrow, staring at the green wooden box with a puzzled expression.
...
Please vote for monthly tickets!