# Chapter 231: Great Success
Twenty-four days had passed in the outside world, yet within the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal, more than two months had elapsed.
The cultivation of the False God Body had proceeded with unprecedented smoothness, exceeding even Zhang Ruochen's expectations.
In his previous life, Zhang Ruochen had never cultivated the False God Body. After all, given his status in that life, any cultivation resource was readily available to him; there was simply no need to plunder sacrificial power.
For his first attempt at such cultivation to be so successful filled Zhang Ruochen with immense joy.
To cultivate the False God Body, Zhang Ruochen's Martial Soul had fused a total of sixty-three drops of Half-Saint blood and three Divine Resting Herbs. With his current Martial Soul strength, he had already surpassed the Martial Soul of a Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artist.
By releasing his Martial Soul, everything within the entire royal palace appeared in his mind, as if he were seeing it with his own eyes.
"Within the entire royal palace, there are actually four Heavenly Extreme Realm martial arts legends. The foundation of the royal clan is indeed not as simple as it appears on the surface."
Zhang Ruochen sensed four powerful auras within the royal palace, the strongest of which came from the Son of Heaven Mountain deep within the palace. That aura was far more powerful than even the Cloudwu Commandery King.
Zhang Ruochen withdrew his Martial Soul, not daring to rashly alert those four Heavenly Extreme Realm martial arts legends. After all, Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artists all possessed Spiritual Power exceeding the twentieth rank, with keen perception. If Zhang Ruochen's Martial Soul approached them too closely, it would certainly be discovered.
"If I now use my Martial Soul to control the world's spiritual energy and execute 'Thunderbolt Spear,' a single strike should be enough to kill that demon sect enchantress from before."
Zhang Ruochen remained seated cross-legged on the ground, his body emitting an extremely powerful aura. Above his head, even a large golden halo appeared, making him look like a youthful deity sitting at the center of heaven and earth.
One must understand that the Martial Soul is a martial artist's spirit. Since Zhang Ruochen's Martial Soul had grown stronger, the spiritual will radiating invisibly from his body would also strengthen accordingly.
In other words, as long as Zhang Ruochen mobilized the power of his Martial Soul, even a single glance from him could intimidate an ordinary Earth Extreme Realm martial arts expert.
In fact, the False God Body referred to Zhang Ruochen's Martial Soul, not his physical body.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen withdrew his Martial Soul, and the powerful aura that had been spreading outside his body immediately receded like a tide, converging back into his body and disappearing without a trace.
Now, Zhang Ruochen appeared completely restrained, no longer possessing that formidable aura from before.
As long as he did not deliberately release his Martial Soul, outsiders would be unable to detect his change.
"My martial arts cultivation has indeed improved somewhat, but to break through to the late stage of Earth Extreme Realm, I still need to borrow sacrificial power."
Zhang Ruochen stood up, walked out of the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal, and headed toward the Yushu Palace.
"The Ninth Prince has ended his seclusion!"
Two young palace maids rushed to deliver the news before Consort Lin.
Almost immediately, Zhang Ruochen entered the palace courtyard and bowed to Consort Lin: "Greetings, Mother."
Not only Consort Lin was present; Huang Yanchen was actually sitting beside her, brewing tea for Consort Lin. She sat leisurely on the ground, her movements extremely graceful, beautiful as a painted scroll.
Zhang Ruochen marveled inwardly. The usually fiery-tempered Senior Sister Huang could actually be so quiet at times, displaying the noble bearing of a royal princess to perfection.
"Rustle rustle."
Seeing Zhang Ruochen enter, Huang Yanchen extended two jade-like fingers, picked up a teacup, filled it with steaming hot tea, and offered it to Zhang Ruochen with both hands.
Zhang Ruochen looked at Huang Yanchen's gentle appearance, paused briefly, then took the teacup and took a light sip.
As the hot tea entered his body, his meridians and blood vessels seemed to open completely, his pores relaxed, and an indescribable comfort spread throughout his body, as if every cell was breathing.
"Excellent tea!"
Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes, feeling his mind become clear and bright, the flow of true qi within his body increasing slightly.
For a martial artist, the effect of this tea was not particularly remarkable.
But for an ordinary person like Consort Lin, the effect of this cup of tea was far more beneficial than those lingzhi mushrooms or ginseng.
Moreover, the medicinal power of the tea was gentle. For an ordinary person, it was truly like nectar. If consumed regularly, it would certainly prolong life and strengthen an ordinary person's body to the level of a Yellow Extreme Realm martial artist.
Huang Yanchen smiled, her voice as melodious as heavenly music: "This tea is called 'White River Leaf.' I sent people to bring it specially from the Thousand Water Commandery. A total of thirty catties have been delivered, enough for Her Highness to drink for ten years."
Zhang Ruochen put down the teacup and laughed: "Senior Sister Huang is actually a tea ceremony master. I... never noticed before."
Consort Lin was somewhat displeased: "Since you are already engaged, how can you still call her Senior Sister? Princess Yanchen is a virtuous and gentle woman, not only beautiful but also from a prominent family. I don't know what good fortune you stumbled upon to win Princess Yanchen's favor. In the future, you must treat her well; otherwise, I will never forgive you."
Consort Lin had grown increasingly fond of Huang Yanchen, feeling that she was a celestial maiden descended from heaven, perfect as uncut jade, without a single flaw. Even in her sleep, when Consort Lin thought of having such a beautiful and elegant daughter-in-law, she would involuntarily wake up smiling.
Zhang Ruochen said: "Mother, rest assured. Princess Yanchen and I have always had an excellent relationship."
Huang Yanchen's eyes lightly glanced at Zhang Ruochen, and she said softly: "Your Highness, I shall take my leave now."
"Chen'er, why don't you see the Princess off?" Consort Lin glared at Zhang Ruochen with a look of frustration, as if disappointed that he wasn't living up to expectations.
Zhang Ruochen smiled, stood up, and made a gesture of invitation toward Huang Yanchen: "Your Highness, please!"
Huang Yanchen's eyebrows lifted slightly, and she glanced at Zhang Ruochen with some satisfaction before walking out.
After leaving the Yushu Palace, Zhang Ruochen's expression turned serious: "Senior Sister Huang, you're not being serious, are you?"
Huang Yanchen wore a white silk long robe, with a date-red hooded cloak over it, standing gracefully in the snow. Her already fair face, reflected by the ice and snow, appeared even more crystalline and translucent.
Huang Yanchen's large, sapphire-blue eyes fixed on Zhang Ruochen as she said coldly: "Of course I'm serious."
Zhang Ruochen shook his head: "But we agreed from the beginning that it was just a fake engagement..."
Huang Yanchen also became serious: "Zhang Ruochen, are you joking? I am the princess of the Thousand Water Commandery, and you are a prince of the Cloudwu Commandery. How can our engagement be treated as child's play? What do you mean by a fake engagement?"
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat speechless as he carefully examined Huang Yanchen: "Senior Sister, this is somewhat unreasonable of you. Can you deny the words you've spoken?"
Huang Yanchen lifted her chin, revealing her snow-white neck: "Have you fallen for Duanmu Xingling, and that's why you're in such a hurry to break off our engagement?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head: "How did Duanmu Senior Sister get dragged into this?"
Huang Yanchen stared with beautiful eyes: "Since you don't like her, why did you admit to being her boyfriend?"
"You're referring to Chen Ruo's identity?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Huang Yanchen bit her lip tightly and said coldly: "I truly misjudged her before. I never thought she would hide so deeply, even trying to steal her best friend's fiancé. We can no longer be sisters. From now on, we can only be enemies. Yes, enemies!"
Zhang Ruochen looked at Huang Yanchen's serious expression and sighed, never expecting things to develop to this point.
He wanted to explain, but knowing Huang Yanchen's personality, the more he explained, the more she would overthink things.
Once again, it was proven that he truly did not understand women.
That he died at the hands of Princess Chi Yao in his previous life was no accident. He must have offended her somewhere, and she harbored a grudge, so she killed Zhang Ruochen with a single sword strike.
But Zhang Ruochen thought back carefully and couldn't find where he had offended Princess Chi Yao.
Why think so much? Why waste so much time guessing their thoughts?
"On the path of martial arts cultivation, one must never be distracted." Zhang Ruochen recalled the words Ming Emperor had once warned him, and immediately withdrew his thoughts.
After seeing Huang Yanchen off, Zhang Ruochen did not return to the Yushu Palace but instead headed toward the Ancestral Temple.
Tomorrow's sacrificial ceremony would be held at the Ancestral Temple.
To seize the sacrificial power during the ceremony, he naturally needed to inspect the venue in advance.
Although the sacrificial ceremony was tomorrow, preparations at the Ancestral Temple had begun half a month ago.
Outside the temple, on the ancient altar built from massive stones, tens of thousands of cattle and sheep sacrificial offerings had already been bound, including a large number of barbarian beasts.
After all, the Cloudwu Commandery was a commandery with a population approaching one hundred million, and the national sacrifice was the martial arts foundation of the commandery. Naturally, the preparations were extremely grand.
Around the altar, there were over a thousand martial artists, eunuchs, and palace maids, all busily working back and forth.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen arrive at the Ancestral Temple, they all bowed in salute, not daring to show any negligence.
Zhang Tiangui's voice sounded behind Zhang Ruochen.
"Ninth Brother, the sacrificial ceremony is tomorrow. Why have you come tonight?"
Zhang Ruochen smiled: "Seventh Brother, aren't you also here?"
Zhang Tiangui walked over from a distance, side by side with Han Qiu.
Lin Chenyu followed behind them, bent over with a servile expression. However, his gaze was extremely dark; no one could guess what he was thinking.
All three of them were top-tier martial arts experts. As they walked through the snow, they left not a single footprint behind.
Zhang Tiangui said: "I am under Father's orders to preside over this year's sacrificial ceremony, so naturally I must come and check frequently. You are still very young. When you are older, you will naturally have such opportunities."
Han Qiu stared at Zhang Ruochen with a curious expression and smiled: "I've long heard that the Ninth Prince's swordsmanship is extraordinary, having reached the peak of the Sword Follows the Heart realm. Even the Half-Saint disciple Qing Chi Bai lost to you in sword techniques. I wonder if I might witness it today?"
Zhang Ruochen's reputation among the younger generation was still considerable, especially his attainments in swordsmanship and Spiritual Power, which earned him the title of number one among the younger generation.
If not for his martial arts cultivation still being insufficient, perhaps Zhang Tiangui's title of number one genius might have already fallen to Zhang Ruochen.
Han Qiu was also a swordsmanship expert, having cultivated her sword techniques to the peak of Sword Follows the Heart. Her swordsmanship attainments among the younger generation of the thirty-six commanderies of the Demon Ridge ranked in the top three.
Meeting a swordsmanship expert like Zhang Ruochen, Han Qiu naturally wanted to spar with him in swordsmanship.
If she could defeat Zhang Ruochen, wouldn't that prove her swordsmanship attainments had also surpassed Qing Chi Bai?
In this regard, Zhang Tiangui was somewhat inferior. Although he bore the title of number one genius among the younger generation, he mainly cultivated his physical body and palm techniques; he was not particularly outstanding in swordsmanship.