Chapter 193: Inner Palace Student
Although the increase in speed seemed only slight, it had crossed over to the limit of a Mysterious Extreme Realm martial artist.
Just as Zhang Ruochen reached his maximum speed, a certain barrier between heaven and earth seemed to be pierced, unleashing a powerful fluctuation of spiritual energy.
All the spiritual energy within the entire cultivation chamber transformed into thin streams, surging towards Zhang Ruochen, converging into a pillar of light that gathered above his head.
"Whoosh!"
Within the cultivation chamber, numerous ancient and sacred phantom images appeared, like the imprints of gods and spirits. They floated in the void, emitting a strange chanting sound.
The Second Resonance of the Gods.
Divine light and spiritual energy intertwined, pouring into Zhang Ruochen's body. With a booming sound, they shattered the Qi Lake between his eyebrows, breaking it into pieces.
Those pieces quickly reassembled, condensing into a Qi Lake a hundred times larger than the original.
In truth, it could no longer be called a Qi Lake; it should be called a Qi Sea.
At this very moment, Zhang Ruochen not only reached the Supreme Extreme Realm of the Mysterious Extreme Realm but also, in one fell swoop, opened his Qi Sea, achieving the initial stage of the Earth Extreme Realm in martial arts.
On the walls of the Qi Sea, various divine imprints appeared, clearer than before.
Each imprint emitted a faint divine light, like stars, illuminating Zhang Ruochen's Qi Sea.
The true qi within the Qi Lake, influenced by the divine imprints, began to contain a faint trace of divinity.
Although Zhang Ruochen had just reached the initial stage of the Earth Extreme Realm, his true qi was purer than that of a martial artist at the Great Perfection of the Earth Extreme Realm.
This was the benefit brought to Zhang Ruochen by the Second Resonance of the Gods.
He had not merely broken through one realm; he had broken through two realms, taking a massive leap forward in his martial arts cultivation.
About half an hour later, the spirit crystals on the stone walls of the Hurricane Cultivation Chamber all became dim and turned to powder. The spiritual energy within the spirit crystals had been completely absorbed by Zhang Ruochen.
The formations within the Hurricane Cultivation Chamber also stopped operating.
The entire chamber fell silent and pitch black.
"Why did the formations in the Hurricane Cultivation Chamber suddenly stop?"
Elder Yao, who was guarding the Hurricane Cultivation Chamber, sensed the change within the chamber and immediately opened the door, stepping inside.
When Elder Yao entered the cultivation chamber, the phantom images of the gods had already disappeared, leaving only Zhang Ruochen quietly sitting cross-legged in the center of the chamber.
"Elder, why have you come in?" Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes and asked with some surprise.
"I was about to ask you what happened."
Elder Yao looked around at the stone walls, seeing hollow pits where the spirit crystals had been embedded. All seven hundred and eighty-six spirit crystals had turned to powder.
How vast was the spiritual energy contained in seven hundred and eighty-six spirit crystals? Where had all that spiritual energy gone?
Elder Yao's gaze was sharp as he stared intently at Zhang Ruochen, sensing the tremendous change in him, and said with some astonishment, "You've broken through to the Earth Extreme Realm?"
"It seems I have broken through." Zhang Ruochen stood up, looking at the hollow pits on the stone walls, also startled.
The Resonance of the Gods had consumed the spiritual energy of several hundred spirit crystals in one go. Fortunately, it happened within the cultivation chamber; if he had broken through outside, it would have caused an even greater commotion.
Elder Yao stared deeply at Zhang Ruochen, as if guessing something, and said, "I will report this matter to the higher-ups of the academy. You should also keep it as confidential as possible and not spread it around."
"Your student understands." Zhang Ruochen said.
Elder Yao said, "Since you have broken through to the Earth Extreme Realm, you are now considered an Inner Palace disciple. You can go to the academy to register and receive your Inner Palace disciple token. Once you become an Inner Palace disciple, you will receive better treatment. For a genius like you, the academy will also invest substantial resources to nurture you."
After Zhang Ruochen left the Hurricane Cultivation Chamber, Elder Yao's eyes still held a complex expression as he muttered to himself, "Could he really have reached the Supreme Extreme Realm of the Mysterious Extreme Realm?"
Elder Yao left Tong Sheng Mountain and headed towards the Elder Pavilion.
The Elder Pavilion was divided into the Silver Robe Elder Pavilion and the Gold Robe Elder Pavilion.
The Silver Robe Elder Pavilion had a total of one hundred and fifty-eight members, with fifty-four elders residing within the Inner Palace Academy. The other Silver Robe Elders were either assigned to the four outer palaces or dispatched to the thirty-six commanderies to oversee the Martial Market Bank's business.
The Pavilion Master of the Silver Robe Elder Pavilion was named Lei Jing. He was already ninety-four years old, but he looked like he was only in his fifties. He had a sturdy build, large eyes, and a broad back, showing no signs of aging.
After listening to Elder Yao's report, Lei Jing also showed a serious expression. He pondered for a moment and said, "The Supreme Extreme Realm is unlikely, but that young fellow should be quite close to it. According to the latest intelligence gathered, four months ago, that young fellow and the number one on the Xuan Ranking, Yan Lixuan, had a secret battle at Liu Chuanshen's residence. At that time, his fastest speed reached seventy-six meters per second."
"Based on your description, over the past four months, he has been cultivating some profound movement martial technique in the Hurricane Chamber. Let's assume he has mastered that movement technique to a high degree. Then his speed would have increased further. I estimate that before breaking through to the Earth Extreme Realm, he must have reached at least seventy-seven meters per second."
Elder Yao's heart trembled. "Pavilion Master, if Zhang Ruochen's fastest speed in the Mysterious Extreme Realm reached seventy-seven meters per second, he should be able to rank in the top ten among this generation across the entire Kunlun Realm, right?"
Lei Jing nodded. "After all, he has just broken through to the Earth Extreme Realm. It's too early to draw any conclusions now. If he can break through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm within five years, I will definitely meet him in person."
Elder Yao frowned slightly. "Martial artists who can break through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm before the age of thirty are extremely rare. In five years, Zhang Ruochen will only be twenty-two. Is it possible for a twenty-two-year-old Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist?"
Lei Jing gently nodded, also finding it unlikely. After thinking for a moment, he said, "In terms of cultivation resources, we can appropriately tilt them in his favor, giving him the treatment of a Di Ranking martial artist."
"Only three people in the entire Inner Palace Academy are Di Ranking martial artists, each a heaven-defying talent who enjoys the treatment of a Silver Robe Elder. Zhang Ruochen is only at the initial stage of the Earth Extreme Realm; giving him the treatment of a Di Ranking martial artist might cause dissatisfaction among other students." Elder Yao expressed his concern.
Lei Jing smiled. "We can set a task for Zhang Ruochen. If he cannot become one of the top ten students in the Inner Palace Academy within a year, we will cancel his special treatment."
Elder Yao thought of another matter. "There is another thing. Before I came, I checked and found that when Zhang Ruochen was in the Mysterious Extreme Realm, he was already ranked thirty-seventh on the Black Market's Bounty Ranking, with a bounty of fourteen million seven hundred thousand silver coins. Now that he has broken through to the Earth Extreme Realm, his bounty will likely increase. Such a high bounty will surely attract many ruthless individuals from the Black Market. With Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, he probably can't handle those ruthless people."
Lei Jing said, "The path to becoming a strong person is always arduous. If we clear all threats for him, it might not necessarily be a good thing for him. The crises he must face alone, let him face them himself. It is also a form of tempering."
Elder Yao nodded gently and withdrew.
...
After leaving Tong Sheng Mountain, Zhang Ruochen went to receive his Inner Palace disciple token, officially becoming an Inner Palace disciple of the Martial Market Academy.
Becoming an Inner Palace disciple naturally came with many benefits.
For example, he could use contribution points to exchange for a cultivation secret mansion. He could also bring his family to live in Tianmo Martial City, where the Martial Market Academy would ensure the safety of the disciples' families.
Moreover, as an Inner Palace disciple, he could receive half a drop of Half-Saint True Liquid every month. He could also use merit points to exchange for Half-Saint True Liquid. Two hundred merit points could be exchanged for one drop of Half-Saint True Liquid.
Of course, becoming an Inner Palace disciple also meant he had to handle tasks for the academy.
Every quarter, he had to complete at least one task for the academy.
By completing tasks, he would receive merit points rewarded by the Martial Market Academy.
After becoming an Inner Palace disciple, Zhang Ruochen did not rush to exchange for his own cultivation secret mansion. Instead, he went to Duanmu Xingling's cultivation secret mansion.
"You've broken through to the Earth Extreme Realm?" Duanmu Xingling showed a delighted expression, carefully examining Zhang Ruochen, and said with a somewhat charming smile, "I'm really curious about how strong you are now. How about we spar a bit?"
Zhang Ruochen smiled. "Sure! I also want to know how much power I can unleash now."
Duanmu Xingling had been in the Inner Palace Academy for eight months, and with the substantial cultivation resources she obtained from the Chi Kong Secret Mansion, her cultivation had reached the late stage of the Earth Extreme Realm. Her cultivation speed was astonishing.
Most importantly, Xiao Hei lived in Duanmu Xingling's cultivation secret mansion and had refined a large number of Ice Pulse Pills, all of which Duanmu Xingling had consumed.
It was for this reason that Duanmu Xingling's cultivation speed was so fast; otherwise, she would still be stuck at the middle stage of the Earth Extreme Realm.
Just as Zhang Ruochen and Duanmu Xingling were about to spar, an uninvited guest arrived at the cultivation secret mansion, forcing the two who were about to compete in martial arts to stop.
This uninvited guest was none other than Huang Yanchen.
"Chen Jie, it's been a while since we last met after the mission to find the Seven-Colored Deer Antler in Heifeng Valley, hasn't it?" Duanmu Xingling sat beside a stone table, ordering a maid to bring tea, and said with a smile.
Huang Yanchen and Zhang Ruochen sat on the other two sides.
Huang Yanchen seemed not to have heard Duanmu Xingling's words, her gaze fixed on Zhang Ruochen, her expressionless face showing no emotion. "You've become an Inner Palace disciple?"
Zhang Ruochen remained calm, giving a faint smile. "I just broke through today."
Huang Yanchen nodded, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I've exchanged for a cultivation secret mansion for you, adjacent to mine. Here is the key to the secret mansion."
With that, Huang Yanchen took out a key and placed it on the table.
Zhang Ruochen's eyelids twitched slightly. He had never expected Huang Yanchen to do this. After a moment of thought, he said, "Thank you, Senior Sister Huang."
"What are you thanking me for? I just can't stand you always staying at Junior Sister Duanmu's place. Don't you know you're disturbing her cultivation?" Huang Yanchen said.
Sitting at the other end, Duanmu Xingling sighed softly in her heart.
Zhang Ruochen also detected the change in Huang Yanchen's tone. Previously, Huang Yanchen had called Duanmu Xingling "Xingling," but now she directly called her "Junior Sister Duanmu."
"Staying at Senior Sister Duanmu's cultivation secret mansion has created a rift in their relationship." Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
He really disliked this feeling.
The three fell silent, the atmosphere oppressive.
After a moment, Duanmu Xingling took the initiative to break the deadlock, smiling. "I was planning to take on a mission that requires two helpers. Since Junior Brother Zhang has broken through to the Earth Extreme Realm, it's perfect for the three of us to complete that mission together. That mission offers a reward of six hundred merit points. If we complete it, each of us can get two hundred merit points."
Zhang Ruochen knew Duanmu Xingling was trying to change the subject, so he immediately asked, "What mission?"