Chapter 242: Thousand Bones
"What? A Half-Saint Sacred Intent Diagram!"
Zhang Ruochen was overjoyed and quickly asked, "Did he tell you where he placed that Half-Saint Sacred Intent Diagram?"
The slave girl shook her head.
In Mu Qing's eyes, she was merely a slave—how could he possibly tell her the location of such a valuable item?
Suddenly, she added, "Mu Qing's life was very routine. He either stayed on the Red Spider Giant Ship or at his mansion in the Black Market. The Half-Saint Sacred Intent Diagram can only be in one of those two places."
The Half-Saint Sacred Intent Diagram was indeed extremely precious. It could not only help Zhang Ruochen cultivate his spiritual power but also assist him in comprehending the martial path of a Half-Saint.
After all, in his previous life, Zhang Ruochen had only reached the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Extreme Realm, still far from the Half-Saint realm.
Zhang Ruochen ordered the slave girls to wait on the middle deck of the ship.
He went alone to the lower deck to search for the Half-Saint Sacred Intent Diagram.
The lower deck contained many secret chambers, each one protected by formation inscriptions. For an ordinary martial artist to break in would be certain death.
However, those formation inscriptions were no obstacle for Zhang Ruochen. By using a "Space Rift," he could easily tear through the formations and enter the chambers.
The secret chambers in the lower deck held immense wealth. There were over eighty thousand spirit crystals alone, along with a large number of True Martial Treasures, pills, martial technique manuals, and valuable goods. The total value of all these cultivation resources exceeded one hundred and fifty million silver coins.
And this didn't even include the value of the Red Spider Giant Ship itself.
This was a massive fortune, likely representing all the resources and wealth of the Poison Spider Merchant Guild on the southern border of the Four Direction Commandery.
If the Poison Spider Merchant Guild learned that this wealth had fallen into Zhang Ruochen's hands, they would surely be driven mad with rage.
Zhang Ruochen mused, "News will spread quickly. Once the Poison Spider Merchant Guild knows that this Red Spider Giant Ship is in my hands, they'll definitely send a large force to deal with me."
After searching the entire Red Spider Giant Ship, Zhang Ruochen still couldn't find the Half-Saint Sacred Intent Diagram.
"It seems the Half-Saint Sacred Intent Diagram can only be at Mu Qing's mansion in the Black Market."
Zhang Ruochen didn't touch the cultivation resources on the Red Spider Giant Ship. He emerged from the lower deck, piloted the ship to the skies above Lin'an County Town, escorted the twenty-four slave girls into the town, and handed them over to the local garrison.
The garrison in Lin'an County Town consisted of only three thousand soldiers.
When the garrison general learned that the Ninth Prince had arrived, he immediately went to greet him, not daring to show any negligence.
"So the mysterious youth who fought Hua Minggong in the city earlier was the Ninth Prince. Heavens! The Ninth Prince's martial cultivation has already reached such a level."
The general had already visited the Poison Spider Merchant Guild's stronghold, seen the corpses of Hua Minggong and the Poison Spider Young Master, and learned their identities from captured evil-path martial artists.
To ordinary soldiers, a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist like Hua Minggong was a legendary figure.
When the general learned that the Poison Spider Young Master and Hua Minggong had died in Lin'an County Town, he was terrified. He was about to report to the imperial court when he heard of the Ninth Prince's arrival and rushed to greet him.
After learning the purpose of the Ninth Prince's visit, the general immediately dispatched a thousand soldiers, carrying the Ninth Prince's personal letter, to escort the twenty-four slave girls to the royal capital.
After settling the slave girls, Zhang Ruochen headed out of the town.
At the city gate, Zhang Ruochen spotted a small, familiar figure.
It was a three- or four-year-old girl with disheveled hair, a cute face, and a gaunt, sallow complexion. She was the same girl he had seen when he first entered Lin'an County Town.
She stood in the snow, her face and hands red from the cold. She blinked her eyes, staring at Zhang Ruochen in the distance.
The robe Zhang Ruochen had given her earlier was nowhere to be seen. She still wore thin, tattered cloth, and her feet were bare, without even shoes.
Curious, Zhang Ruochen walked over and asked, "Why are you here? Where's the robe I gave you? And the blood pills?"
The girl widened her round eyes, tugged at the corner of her clothes with her fingers, and whispered, "I... I gave them to others."
"Why are you so foolish? That robe could have kept you warm, and those blood pills could have kept you from starving all winter. Why did you give them away?" Zhang Ruochen said.
The girl's gaze remained firm, showing no regret. "I gave them to the people who helped me bury my mother."
Zhang Ruochen suddenly understood and fell silent. He carefully examined the three- or four-year-old girl and said, "Where is your mother buried? Take me to see her."
The girl tilted her head, thought for a moment, then nodded. She walked through the snow on her bare, red feet, seemingly unaware of the cold—or perhaps her body had long gone numb.
With each step, the snow reached her knees, leaving a trail of small footprints.
Zhang Ruochen followed behind, watching her frail body with some surprise.
In such harsh weather, even a strong adult would likely freeze to death in the icy wilderness if starving and cold.
Yet this three- or four-year-old girl, wearing only thin, tattered clothes and without food, had survived the bitter winter without freezing or starving to death.
"Stop!" Zhang Ruochen said.
The girl stopped and turned around, her large, clear eyes looking at Zhang Ruochen with some confusion.
Zhang Ruochen walked up to her, pressed his fingers against her head, and felt along her bones inch by inch. Then he moved down, checking her spine, then her leg and foot joints.
After a while, Zhang Ruochen withdrew his hand and smiled slightly. "Unbelievable. You have one thousand and eight bones in total. No wonder you didn't freeze or starve to death. You have a 'Thousand Bones Physique.'"
A normal person has only two hundred and six bones.
Of course, in childhood, humans have a few more bones, up to two hundred and eighteen, because the bones haven't fully formed yet.
That's why childhood is the best time to practice martial arts. Once an adult's bones are set, even if they train, they won't achieve much.
A human with one thousand and eight bones is truly a marvel of skeletal structure—a martial prodigy. All they need is an opportunity to train, and they will soar to great heights, breaking through their cocoon like a butterfly.
This is an innate talent physique.
Take Zhang Ruochen, for example. His current body's physique was extremely poor, leaving him weak and sickly from childhood. He didn't awaken his Divine Martial Mark until he was sixteen, and he even died of illness from the cold.
If not for the soul from his previous life traveling eight hundred years into the future and merging with this body, he would never have had the chance to cultivate martial arts.
Zhang Ruochen's current achievements were entirely due to his cultivation of the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture* and the accumulation of vast cultivation resources.
That's why Zhang Ruochen had bought large quantities of pills and practiced the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm—to temper his physique and compensate for his innate deficiencies.
But this girl was different. Her innate skeletal structure was extraordinary. While others had only two hundred and six bones, she had one thousand and eight. Even Zhang Tiangui was far inferior to her in innate physique.
Legend has it that dragons and phoenixes have only nine hundred and ninety-nine bones, nine fewer than her.
Thus, the so-called "Dragon Among Men, Phoenix Among Women" refers to the "Thousand Bones Physique."
If any major sect or clan discovered her, they would treasure her like a precious gem.
In history, there was a Great Emperor with a Thousand Bones Physique who reached the level of a "Nine Extreme Genius," a record no one has surpassed to this day.
The girl grew nervous as Zhang Ruochen touched her, standing still and becoming wary, afraid he might be a bad person.
Zhang Ruochen looked at her and asked, "What's your name?"
"Hanxue," the girl said.
"Why Hanxue?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
The girl murmured, "Because Father didn't like the cold snow... He said that when it snows, there's no food. People starve and freeze to death."
"So he didn't like you either?" Zhang Ruochen said.
"Girls can't join the army, and without joining the army, how can they practice martial arts? And girls aren't as strong as boys—they can't farm or hunt. So Father hated me, despised me, resented me. He thought I was as hateful as the winter wind and snow."
She paused, then added, "But in the end, he froze to death in the snow. Mother and I buried him, then came to Lin'an County Town. I thought we wouldn't freeze here, but..."
Tears streamed from her eyes as she began to cry again. After all, she was still just a little girl.
Hanxue led Zhang Ruochen to where her mother was buried, in a forest outside the town. It was just a small mound of earth, very crude.
But she was already satisfied, knowing she couldn't have buried her mother on her own.
"Shua!"
Zhang Ruochen found a three-meter-tall boulder. He patted it with his palm, then swung his hand like a blade. The boulder split in two, revealing a smooth cut.
Hanxue's mouth fell open in shock as she stared at the scene, finding it incredible.
Zhang Ruochen raised his hand, and with the guidance of true qi, the thousand-pound boulder flew to the front of the grave. He extended his index finger, condensed true qi, and quickly carved characters into the stone.
"Mother's Grave, Daughter Hanxue."
With those eight characters, a simple stone tablet was complete.
Zhang Ruochen clasped his hands behind his back, gazing at the tablet, and asked, "Do you want to learn martial arts?"
Hanxue stood beside him, less than a meter tall, her eyes bright. "Yes!"
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "Then come with me. When you've mastered your training, you can return and build a grand tomb for your mother."