Chapter 239: Lightning Prison Dragon Palm
Zhang Ruochen tossed the corpse of the Poison Spider Young Master out of his Space Ring and dropped it onto the ground.
The Poison Spider Young Master's corpse was wrapped in ice. Hua Minggong had clearly intended to take it back for a proper burial. Unfortunately for him, to Zhang Ruochen, the Poison Spider Young Master's corpse was worthless and not worth keeping in the Space Ring.
By killing the Poison Spider Young Master and Hua Minggong, Zhang Ruochen would definitely earn a large amount of merit points.
With the vast intelligence network of the Martial Market Bank, it would be very easy for them to find out that the two had died at Zhang Ruochen's hands. Therefore, Zhang Ruochen didn't need to bring their corpses back as proof.
"Given the greedy and selfish nature of the Black Market's evil path martial artists, the Poison Spider Young Master and Hua Minggong definitely didn't spread the news that I can control spatial power. Now that they're both dead, I don't have to worry about the information leaking anymore." Zhang Ruochen felt considerably more relaxed. After all, space and time were his greatest secrets.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen raised his head and looked towards the horizon. He saw a small red dot flying in from the distance.
A "whoosh" sound echoed through the sky.
Moreover, the sound grew louder and louder, causing the air itself to vibrate.
Almost all the citizens of Lin'an County were startled. They walked out of their homes and looked up at the sky.
They saw a massive red warship flying in from the northern sky. It was over seventy zhang long, entirely forged from steel, looking like a divine vessel.
Beneath the warship, nine formations were suspended. The formations continuously operated, creating ripples of inscription patterns.
The Red Spider Giant Warship!
"Hua Minggong was indeed stalling for time, waiting for reinforcements. It's a good thing I killed him first; otherwise, I would have been caught between two enemies." Zhang Ruochen's expression darkened.
It was already too late to leave now.
Today, another fierce battle was unavoidable.
If the battle started within Lin'an County, the power of the Red Spider Giant Warship would likely raze this small city to the ground, causing countless deaths.
Without any hesitation, Zhang Ruochen activated the Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow. In just a few flashes, he rushed out of the county and headed towards the distant frozen river.
The people on the warship had already detected Zhang Ruochen's aura. As Zhang Ruochen rushed out of Lin'an County, the Red Spider Giant Warship immediately changed direction and chased after him.
The Red Spider Giant Warship's speed reached the speed of sound, quickly catching up to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen stopped running. He stood by the frozen river, trying to adjust his state. His true qi merged completely with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, making him appear very calm.
The Red Spider Giant Warship, like a behemoth, hovered in the void above Zhang Ruochen's head, blocking a third of the sky and casting a huge shadow on the ground.
On the deck of the Red Spider Giant Warship stood a spirited old man in a purple robe. He had long white eyebrows, a slightly plump build, and a faint smile on his face. He looked down at Zhang Ruochen and said, "Little fellow, you're quite fast. Are you an inner palace disciple of the Martial Market Academy?"
Earlier on the Red Spider Giant Warship, Mu Qing had personally witnessed Zhang Ruochen using the Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow to achieve a speed of two hundred meters per second.
Among the younger generation, those who could reach such speeds were all top-tier prodigies.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Why should I tell you?"
The purple-robed old man gave a sinister smile. "My name is Mu Qing. I am the person in charge of the Poison Spider Merchant Guild's southern border in the Four Directions Commandery. I received Hua Minggong's distress signal and rushed over immediately. Where is Hua Minggong now?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "Probably still on the road to the Yellow Spring."
"You killed him?" The old man's eyes widened, as if lightning could shoot out from his pupils.
Zhang Ruochen said, "You're one step too late."
Mu Qing was not as angry as Zhang Ruochen had imagined. Instead, he revealed a smile and said, "Hua Minggong was too useless, dying at the hands of a young man. His lifelong reputation is ruined. But it's good that he's dead. With him gone, I can become the overall person in charge of the Yunwu Commandery."
Mu Qing's martial arts cultivation had already reached the Heavenly Extreme Realm, but he could only be one of the eight people in charge of the Four Directions Commandery. He had to obey not only the general leader of the Poison Spider Merchant Guild but also the overall person in charge of the Four Directions Commandery. Naturally, he was very dissatisfied.
Since Hua Minggong was dead, Mu Qing could naturally become the overall person in charge of the Yunwu Commandery.
Although the Yunwu Commandery was only a lower-level commandery, it was still better than being subordinate to others.
Since Hua Minggong had been killed, Mu Qing naturally had to avenge him. Only by doing so could he prove that he was stronger than Hua Minggong and more worthy of being valued by the merchant guild.
Mu Qing's gaze locked onto Zhang Ruochen again. He couldn't believe that a young man could kill Hua Minggong, who had Heavenly Extreme Realm cultivation. He thought to himself, perhaps Hua Minggong was already severely injured, and the young man just took advantage of the situation.
"Kid, you dare to kill a person in charge of the Poison Spider Merchant Guild. Do you know what price you will pay?" Mu Qing said coldly.
Zhang Ruochen said, "What price?"
"Not only will you die, but your entire clan will be wiped out. All the women in your clan will be captured, turned into goods of the Poison Spider Merchant Guild, and sold as slaves," Mu Qing said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Is this how your Poison Spider Merchant Guild intimidates people?"
"Intimidate you? Haha! It seems I need to teach you a lesson so you'll understand the methods of the Poison Spider Merchant Guild."
Mu Qing soared into the air, leaping off the Red Spider Giant Warship like a large black bird descending from the sky. He struck a palm towards Zhang Ruochen.
"Shocking Heaven Palm!"
His palm was completely enveloped in electric light.
"Boom!"
A thunderous sound erupted from his palm, echoing for dozens of miles.
Just a single palm strike, yet it was incredibly powerful.
Zhang Ruochen didn't expect Mu Qing to recklessly jump off the Red Spider Giant Warship and take the initiative to attack him.
It seemed that in Mu Qing's eyes, he didn't take a teenage boy seriously at all. He was confident that even without the Red Spider Giant Warship's power, he could kill Zhang Ruochen.
In Mu Qing's view, using the Red Spider Giant Warship to kill a young man would be a disgrace if word got out.
Why use a butcher's knife to kill a chicken?
It had to be said that Mu Qing's strength was indeed formidable. Although he was still at the initial stage of the Heavenly Extreme Realm, he was even stronger than Hua Minggong, who had used a forbidden technique.
"Flying Dragon in the Sky!"
Zhang Ruochen stomped his legs, shooting upward. Spiritual Fire True Qi surged from his body, enveloping his palm as he met Mu Qing's attack.
"Bang!"
The electric palm and the fire palm collided.
Zhang Ruochen fell to the ground, creating a half-meter-deep crater. Thin electric patterns still flowed on his arm, and half of his sleeve was completely charred black.
He gently shook his arm, and the charred part of the sleeve turned to powder, leaving the sleeve tattered.
In their first exchange, Zhang Ruochen was slightly at a disadvantage.
There was no helping it. The opponent's Heavenly Extreme Realm cultivation was right there, and he was in peak condition, not comparable to the severely injured Hua Minggong.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen had killed Hua Minggong by using a "Space Rift" and catching him off guard.
At that time, Hua Minggong had used a forbidden technique. Although his strength was great, his energy was exhausted, and his mind was overly excited, making it impossible for him to clearly perceive subtle spatial fluctuations.
It was naturally much easier for Zhang Ruochen to ambush him.
But Mu Qing was now in peak condition, with a very sensitive spiritual power. If Zhang Ruochen tried to use a "Space Rift" to ambush him, it wouldn't be so easy.
Without absolute certainty, Zhang Ruochen didn't plan to use spatial power. Otherwise, not only would he fail to kill Mu Qing, but he would also expose his secret.
Mu Qing landed on the ground, looking at Zhang Ruochen with some surprise. "You can actually withstand my 'Shocking Heaven Palm.' No wonder you were able to kill Hua Minggong. With your strength, you could probably rank in the top ten among the inner palace disciples of the Martial Market Academy, right?"
"If you want to fight, then fight. Why so much nonsense?"
Zhang Ruochen took the initiative to attack Mu Qing. Under the impetus of his true qi, forty force-type inscription patterns on the Abyssal Ancient Sword were activated, increasing the sword's weight to over four thousand jin.
With a move called "Heavenly Heart Points the Way," he slashed at Mu Qing.
"Whoosh!"
Mu Qing burst forward at a speed of three hundred meters per second. With just a flicker of his body, he dodged Zhang Ruochen's full-powered sword strike. From the left side, he pointed a finger towards Zhang Ruochen's left temple.
His speed was far faster than Zhang Ruochen's, almost reaching the speed of sound.
"Good!"
As if he had already anticipated the attack from the left, Zhang Ruochen swung his battle sword horizontally, slashing at Mu Qing's waist.
If Mu Qing continued forward, he could indeed pierce Zhang Ruochen's temple with his finger, but he would also be cut in half by the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
He naturally didn't want to die together with Zhang Ruochen, so he immediately retreated and changed his move.
Zhang Ruochen also changed his move, executing the mastered Heavenly Heart Sword Technique. Each time, he forced Mu Qing to retreat.
In the blink of an eye, the two exchanged dozens of moves, but not a single one actually made contact. Almost every time Mu Qing tried to use a move, Zhang Ruochen blocked it in advance.
"Good kid, you've actually mastered your sword technique to perfection. I don't believe I can't deal with you."
Retreating ten zhang away, Mu Qing pressed his palms together. Electric light gathered in his hands, forming a human-head-sized electric ball.
"Lightning Prison Dragon Palm."
In the Poison Spider Merchant Guild, as long as one reached the Heavenly Extreme Realm, they could choose a Spirit-level mid-grade martial technique to cultivate. Mu Qing had chosen the "Lightning Prison Dragon Palm."
For ordinary evil path martial artists, reaching the Heavenly Extreme Realm only allowed them to obtain one Spirit-level mid-grade martial technique. Only those who made outstanding contributions to the Black Market could obtain a second Spirit-level mid-grade martial technique.
Even the royal clan of the Yunwu Commandery only had one Spirit-level mid-grade martial technique as their top-tier technique. This shows how precious Spirit-level mid-grade martial techniques were.
In the Martial Market Academy, learning a martial technique above the Spirit level also required spending a large amount of merit points to exchange for it. Moreover, one could only cultivate it themselves and couldn't pass it on.
Not every martial artist was like Zhang Ruochen, who had browsed through a large number of high-level techniques and martial skills.
Other martial artists simply couldn't compare.
Mu Qing had originally awakened a lightning-attribute Divine Martial Mark. The true qi he cultivated also contained lightning attributes. For this reason, at the same cultivation level, he was stronger than Hua Minggong.
Hua Minggong's true qi didn't contain any attribute power.
"Roar!"
Mu Qing struck out with his palm. The electric ball emitted a dragon-like roar, transforming into a streak of lightning dragon shadow.
"Elephant Force Ninefold."
Zhang Ruochen struck out six palm prints in succession. The six palms merged into one, forming a single palm print that unleashed six times the attack power.
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