Chapter 279: The 130th Position
Although the artifact spirit of the Earth Ranking was powerful, it also had certain limitations.
The main artifact spirit could actively transmit some information to its clone, but the clone could not actively pass information back to the main spirit.
For the clone to communicate with the main spirit, it had to rely on the spiritual power of spirit crystals.
Therefore, Zhang Ruochen's test results would not be immediately transmitted from the clone to the main spirit.
As for how to communicate with the Earth Ranking artifact spirit's clone, that was Lei Jing's responsibility. After all, the clone of the Earth Ranking artifact spirit was also under the management of the Martial Market Bank.
Lei Jing was the highest authority of the Martial Market Bank across the thirty-six commanderies of the Demon Ridge. Naturally, the Earth Ranking artifact spirit's clone here was also under his management.
If it weren't for this, Zhang Ruochen wouldn't have asked Lei Jing for help.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I challenge the 130th position on the Earth Ranking, Wei Wuhen."
Before entering the testing chamber, Lei Jing had told Zhang Ruochen that his overall strength was comparable to the martial artist ranked 130th on the Earth Ranking.
That was why Zhang Ruochen chose this rank for his first challenge.
He also wanted to know if he could defeat an opponent of equal strength.
"Whoosh!"
In the testing chamber, the name "Wei Wuhen" flickered, and spiritual energy continuously gathered, condensing into a man in his thirties.
The man standing opposite Zhang Ruochen was Wei Wuhen.
To be precise, he was a spiritual void body formed by the Earth Ranking artifact spirit's clone based on Wei Wuhen's data.
Any martial artist who participated in the Earth Ranking test—including their strength, speed, martial skills, mindset, speech, habitual movements, and so on—would have all their data recorded by the Earth Ranking's artifact spirit.
With this data, the Earth Ranking's artifact spirit could use spiritual energy to condense a spiritual void body as powerful as the original person.
"You dare challenge me, kid? Aren't you being a bit too arrogant?"
Wei Wuhen's spiritual void body was no different from a real person, and his words carried a domineering and arrogant demeanor.
Zhang Ruochen held the Abyssal Ancient Sword horizontally and said, "Arrogant or truly capable—won't we find out after the battle?"
Wei Wuhen curled his lips and sneered, "Interesting."
"Whoosh!"
Wei Wuhen extended his arm, and a one-zhang-three-chi-long green lance materialized from the void.
The green lance, shaped like a long spear with a tip resembling a dragon's fang, exuded a chilling aura.
"This Heaven-Shaking Lance is forged from a single piece of meteorite iron, weighing 4,300 jin, with 57 inscriptions inside. It's an eighth-rank True Martial Treasure. Can you withstand one strike from my lance?"
Wei Wuhen's voice, like wind and thunder, echoed repeatedly in the testing chamber.
Wei Wuhen gripped the lance with both hands, golden light blazing from his eyes, and swung it down at Zhang Ruochen.
The Heaven-Shaking Lance, condensed from spiritual energy by the Earth Ranking artifact spirit, possessed all the power of the real weapon.
As Wei Wuhen swung the lance down, the entire space shook violently, producing a cracking sound.
In both speed and strength, Wei Wuhen was on par with Zhang Ruochen.
His combat experience was also rich; with a single move, he created seven afterimages, as if seven figures were attacking simultaneously, sealing off all of Zhang Ruochen's options.
Wei Wuhen aimed to win in one strike.
Zhang Ruochen let out a long roar, thrusting his sword forward to clash with the Heaven-Shaking Lance. Sparks flew with a crackling sound.
"Boom!"
Though it seemed like just two weapons colliding, the sound was like thunder, enough to rupture the eardrums of an ordinary martial artist.
After the exchange, both quickly retreated.
Zhang Ruochen didn't stop until he hit the stone wall of the chamber, steadying himself. His sword-wielding arm ached terribly, and the right half of his body was numb from the impact.
Wei Wuhen fared slightly better, retreating only seven steps before regaining his balance.
This outcome was within Zhang Ruochen's expectations.
During the first round of strength testing, Zhang Ruochen had used "Elephant Force Ninefold" to unleash seven times his power, achieving a result of 32.2 wild elephant forces.
It was easy to imagine that Wei Wuhen's maximum explosive strength was also around 32 wild elephant forces.
Although Wei Wuhen likely had martial skill amplifications, they certainly couldn't reach seven times the power.
Thus, without the sevenfold palm strength, Zhang Ruochen's power naturally fell slightly short.
"Your... your weapon is incredibly sharp!"
Wei Wuhen looked at his beloved Heaven-Shaking Lance, only to find a deep gash on it from the Abyssal Ancient Sword, nearly cutting it in two.
An eighth-rank True Martial Treasure had been half-destroyed by a single sword strike from Zhang Ruochen.
The Heaven-Shaking Lance, forged from a single piece of meteorite iron and protected by inscriptions, shouldn't have been damaged even by a ninth-rank True Martial Treasure.
Just how sharp was the Abyssal Ancient Sword in Zhang Ruochen's hand to cut the lance down to scrap metal with one blow?
"Isn't a weapon also part of a martial artist's strength?" Zhang Ruochen said.
"Hmph! Don't get too cocky. You just have a powerful weapon. In terms of true strength, you're still far behind me."
Wei Wuhen set aside the damaged lance and stood his ground. A blood array nine meters in diameter appeared beneath his feet.
A nine-meter diameter—a saint-level blood array.
"Roar!"
Wei Wuhen stepped on the blood array, unleashing his maximum speed, and in an instant, struck a palm toward Zhang Ruochen's face.
After a brief rest, Zhang Ruochen's arm had regained its strength. He twisted his body to evade Wei Wuhen's palm strike while thrusting his sword toward Wei Wuhen's left rib.
"Taiji Capturing Hand."
Wei Wuhen spread his arms like an eagle unfurling its wings, charging at Zhang Ruochen. His hands traced circles in the air, forming a Taiji pattern.
His fingers shifted constantly—like iron hooks, short blades, or crane beaks—causing the void to tremble with an eerie vibration.
Zhang Ruochen's expression changed slightly. As he tried to retreat, he suddenly found his wrist seized by Wei Wuhen, and the meridians in his right arm were sealed.
"You're a disciple of the Taiji Path?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Wei Wuhen, using the Taiji Capturing Hand to firmly grip Zhang Ruochen's wrist, chuckled, "You have some insight. I'm a disciple of the Liangyi Sect of the Taiji Path. You didn't know who your opponent was until now?"
Why had no one from the thirty-six commanderies of the Demon Ridge ever entered the top 3,000 of the Earth Ranking?
Because the top 3,000 spots were almost entirely occupied by disciples of first-rate, second-rate, and third-rate forces, known as the "Upper Three Streams" heirs.
It was already remarkable that Si Xingkong and Zhang Tiangui had made it into the top 10,000 of the Earth Ranking.
In the eyes of the Upper Three Streams, the Demon Ridge was just a rural backwater, with its strongest sect being only a fourth-rate sect.
How could martial artists from such a small place compete with those from the Upper Three Streams?
"So what if it's the Liangyi Sect?"
"To other martial artists, the Liangyi Sect might indeed be sacred and invincible. But even a disciple of the Liangyi Sect, at equal strength, is still far beneath me," Zhang Ruochen said.
Wei Wuhen sneered, "Since you know the Liangyi Sect, you should understand the power of the Taiji Capturing Hand. Once caught, even a saint can't escape."
"Is that so? But you haven't mastered the Taiji Capturing Hand yet. It can't restrain me."
Zhang Ruochen loosened his grip on the sword, voluntarily letting go of the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen release his weapon, Wei Wuhen's eyes darkened. He grabbed Zhang Ruochen's arm, moving inch by inch until he locked onto Zhang Ruochen's shoulder.
Wei Wuhen raised his other hand and struck a palm toward the top of Zhang Ruochen's head.
Just as it seemed Zhang Ruochen would lose to Wei Wuhen, a sword qi suddenly flew out from behind, severing Wei Wuhen's neck and sending his head flying.
Wei Wuhen's body immediately dissolved into wisps of spiritual energy, dissipating in the testing chamber.
"Swish!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword flew through the air in an arc and plunged into the ground at Zhang Ruochen's feet.
"As expected of the 130th-ranked expert on the Earth Ranking—he forced me to use the Sword Heart Illumination realm."
There was no other choice. The "Taiji Capturing Hand" was known as one of the twelve most powerful capturing techniques.
As Wei Wuhen had said, once caught, even a saint couldn't escape.
Only by using the Sword Heart Illumination realm could he win; otherwise, he would have had to rely on the power of the Space Domain.
But for this Earth Ranking test, Zhang Ruochen didn't plan to use spatial power, to avoid being discovered by the Earth Ranking artifact spirit's clone. Spatial power was his greatest trump card and absolutely could not be exposed.
After suffering the Taiji Capturing Hand, Zhang Ruochen's right arm felt as if its bones and tendons had been dislocated—completely numb, without even a trace of true qi flow.
"I didn't expect Wei Wuhen to have mastered the Taiji Capturing Hand, and he didn't expect me to have reached the Sword Heart Illumination realm. Although I won, I have to admit I underestimated his strength earlier and was a bit careless. Otherwise, I wouldn't have needed to use the Sword Heart Illumination realm."
Zhang Ruochen summarized the battle, reminding himself that in the future, whether facing a strong or weak opponent, he must never be negligent again and must treat every battle with caution.
Zhang Ruochen walked out of the testing chamber.
Lei Jing glanced at Zhang Ruochen and noticed he was quite injured. He asked, "What rank on the Earth Ranking did you challenge?"
Zhang Ruochen used sound transmission to tell Lei Jing, "The 130th position."
Lei Jing frowned deeply, not expecting Zhang Ruochen to dare challenge an opponent of equal strength in his very first match.
In truth, he had wanted Zhang Ruochen to challenge someone ranked after the 300th position first. After all, the top-ranked martial artists on the Earth Ranking were all proud sons of heaven, extremely powerful.
Compared to them, Zhang Ruochen was still too young and inexperienced, with almost no hope of winning.