Chapter 304: Tongming River
The Four Directions Commandery Prince's expression turned somewhat unnatural as he cautiously confirmed again, "Young Master wants to go to the underwater Dragon Palace?"
"Do you have a problem with that?"
Di Yi shot him a glance, his eyes like two sharp swords.
For some reason, even though the Four Directions Commandery Prince's martial cultivation far surpassed Di Yi's, he was still intimidated by Di Yi's gaze. His heart trembled slightly as he quickly said, "The underwater Dragon Palace is extremely dangerous, and only martial artists below the Heavenly Extreme Realm can enter it. If something happens to the Young Master inside, how could we bear the responsibility?"
Di Yi smiled. "Precisely because the underwater Dragon Palace is so perilous, I invited all of you here. I now need a thousand martial artists at the Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection to accompany me into the underwater Dragon Palace. I believe all of you should be able to help me gather enough people, right?"
The crowd hesitated briefly, glanced at Hua Qingye, who had lost an arm, and immediately spoke in unison, "Within three days, we will definitely help the Young Master gather a thousand Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artists."
Just then, Zhang Tiangui, standing in the corner, immediately knelt on one knee and said, "Zhang Tiangui is willing to follow the Young Master to the underwater Dragon Palace."
Di Yi glanced at Zhang Tiangui indifferently, as if he had already seen through him. A slight curve appeared at the corner of his mouth. "A Four-Absolute Genius? In the Demon Ridge, it's already quite remarkable for a Four-Absolute Genius to emerge."
After all, the Demon Ridge was just a small place, with relatively low-level cultivation techniques. With lower-level techniques, one's starting point was naturally lower than others.
Moreover, the cultivation resources in the Demon Ridge were also relatively inferior. This meant it wasn't just a lower starting point—the cultivation environment, the elixirs consumed, and the martial arts instructors were all far inferior to others.
In such an environment, reaching the Four-Absolute Genius level at the Earth Extreme Realm was indeed an impressive talent.
The Earth Extreme Realm was still the stage of martial cultivation and body refinement; the foundation was not yet fixed. There was still significant room for improvement in the Heavenly Extreme Realm and the Fish-Dragon Realm. If one could enter the best cultivation environment and receive the finest training, even a Four-Absolute Genius could potentially grow into a Six-Absolute Genius, or even a Seven-Absolute Genius.
Just like Luo Xu back then—he started as merely a Two-Absolute Genius but gradually grew to the level of Seven Absolutes.
The path of cultivation does not predetermine your growth space from the start. As long as you work hard and have good opportunities, no one can predict your future achievements.
Of course, if you lay a solid foundation from the beginning and advance step by step, your martial path will be smoother, more solid, and easier to succeed in.
After all, among a hundred thousand martial artists, perhaps only one will rely on late-stage effort to become a top-tier powerhouse. But among those who accumulate steadily and train diligently, one in ten can become a top-tier powerhouse.
Clearly, Di Yi was the latter, and Zhang Tiangui was the former.
For Zhang Tiangui to become a peak expert would be ten thousand times harder than for Di Yi. Perhaps he would be one of the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine failures. Not everyone can create a miracle.
Just then, an old man wearing a bamboo hat and a gray cloak walked into the tent. The old man approached the chief of the Poison Spider Merchant Guild, Hua Qingye, and whispered something to him.
Upon hearing the old man's words, Hua Qingye's expression shifted slightly, and a murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
Di Yi's ears twitched, and he asked, "Guild Leader Hua, what happened?"
"Just a trivial matter, not worth disturbing the Young Master," Hua Qingye said.
"Great matters are built from trivial matters, just as great figures climb up step by step from small ones," Di Yi said.
Hua Qingye said, "It really is just a minor matter. Just now, a Black Market spy lurking in the Demon Martial City reported that Zhang Ruochen had left the Demon Martial City."
"Zhang Ruochen? Who is Zhang Ruochen?" Di Yi asked.
The chief of the Poison Spider Merchant Guild said, "Zhang Ruochen is the number one expert of the younger generation in the Demon Ridge. He appeared alongside the Young Master in this issue of the 'Eastern Region Wind and Cloud Report,' but the Young Master occupies the front page headline, while Zhang Ruochen only has a small section on the last page."
"It really does seem like a trivial matter." Di Yi smiled.
Just a genius from the Demon Ridge—given Di Yi's status, he naturally wouldn't take it seriously.
The Four Directions Commandery Prince suddenly stood up, his face filled with anger. "Young Master, Zhang Ruochen is an enemy of the Black Market. He has killed several Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artists of the Black Market. Because of him, our Four Directions Commandery royal clan was exposed and suffered sanctions from the Eastern Region Saint King Manor. This man must be eliminated, or he will surely become a great enemy of the Black Market in the future."
Di Yi clearly didn't think much of Zhang Ruochen. "Alright! Since the Four Directions Commandery Prince wants to eliminate Zhang Ruochen, handle it yourself. Don't tell me that with the power of the Four Directions Commandery royal clan, you can't kill a mere young genius."
With Di Yi's approval, the Four Directions Commandery Prince was overjoyed and quickly said, "If Zhang Ruochen had stayed obediently in the Demon Martial City, we might not have been able to do anything to him. But since he's come out now, I will definitely chop him into pieces."
Zhang Tiangui said, "I am willing to assist the Commandery Prince."
"It seems that Zhang Ruochen has made many enemies in the Black Market. Go ahead if you want, but remember—do not leak any information. If anyone dares to spread news of the Dragon Relic, don't blame me for being ruthless." Di Yi said coldly.
Everyone felt a sense of awe, a chill running down their spines.
In the entire tent, only A Le and Zi Qian showed a flicker of unusual light in their eyes.
...
...
To avoid attracting attention, Zhang Ruochen, Huang Yanchen, Duanmu Xingling, Si Xingkong, Chang Qiqi, and Chen Xi'er left the city separately, agreeing to meet at the Tongming River.
After leaving the city, Zhang Ruochen sensed that he was being followed—and by more than one group.
He thought to himself, "As expected, some people are suspicious, thinking I'm going to that ancient cave from the Middle Ages to dig for treasure. I have to shake them off first. I absolutely cannot let them follow me to the underwater Dragon Palace of the Tongming River."
A slight smile curled at the corner of Zhang Ruochen's mouth. Carrying the Abyssal Ancient Sword on his back, he rode a barbarian beast. Suddenly, he accelerated and charged into a dense forest.
"Shua shua!"
The martial artists following Zhang Ruochen immediately activated their movement techniques and chased into the forest.
But upon entering the forest, they only saw a barbarian beast, with no trace of Zhang Ruochen.
"Where is he?"
"The entire forest is sealed off, yet he's disappeared. Can Zhang Ruochen burrow into the ground?"
"Keep searching. We must find Zhang Ruochen."
A hundred miles away from that forest, the void twisted slightly, like a ripple appearing.
"Hua!"
Zhang Ruochen stepped out from that translucent ripple, glanced back, and continued on his way.
With his mastery of space distortion, shaking off those pursuers was a trivial matter for Zhang Ruochen.
Four days later, Zhang Ruochen sat in a small boat on the surface of the Tongming River.
He sat cross-legged on the boat, cultivating the five yin-attributed sword waves among the "Ten Meridian Sword Waves." Those five sword waves were located in his right hand.
Zhang Ruochen's right fingers kept gesturing, forming streams of true qi light.
"The Tongming River is indeed a place of extreme cold, perfect for cultivating yin-attributed sword waves," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
The small boat drifted downstream, very steady.
The Tongming River was an ancient river stretching hundreds of thousands of miles, flowing through forty-two commandery states. In its wide sections, the current was gentle, and one couldn't see the opposite bank—it was like a sea.
If the Demon Ridge was the gathering place for land barbarian beasts, then the Tongming River was the gathering place for aquatic barbarian beasts.
In the five hundred years since Empress Chi Yao ascended the throne, the nation's power had grown increasingly strong, with saints emerging in abundance and martial arts flourishing. On land, almost all barbarian beasts that dared to oppose humans had been eradicated. Throughout the Kunlun Realm, the human race reigned supreme, with all beasts lying low.
Never before had the human race been as powerful as it was now, almost completely suppressing all barbarian tribes. Anyone who dared to oppose humanity was asking for death.
Now, in the entire Kunlun Realm, aside from the distant northern wilderness, only the waters still harbored barbarian beasts that dared to challenge humanity.
The Tongming River waters were naturally also a gathering place for barbarian beasts. The number of barbarian beasts there was more than ten times that of the Demon Ridge.
The harm caused by aquatic barbarian beasts was no less than that of land barbarian beasts. They constantly stirred up waves, slaughtering human villages and towns along the river.
Especially the Death River section of the Tongming River, which was a forbidden zone for humans. Approaching it meant certain death.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen was steering his small boat toward the Death River section.
He had agreed with Huang Yanchen, Duanmu Xingling, Chen Xi'er, Si Xingkong, and Chang Qiqi to meet at the only human city in the Death River section, "Death City."
Suddenly, the originally calm water surface erupted into massive waves.
The waves rose more than ten meters high, like walls of water, threatening to flip the small boat into the sky. At the same time, a fierce wind swept across the water, forming cyclones that howled mournfully.
"Roar!"
The roar of a barbarian beast echoed for hundreds of miles, even scattering the clouds in the sky.
A massive black shadow burst out of the water, revealing hideous scales, each as large as a palm.
"Boom!"
The water surged violently, crashing down.
The small boat immediately shattered into pieces, turning into wood chips.
"Shua!"
Zhang Ruochen transformed into a streak of white light, shooting into the sky. He channeled true qi to his legs, paused in midair for a moment, then rose higher, reaching over thirty meters above the water.
Just then, a huge black head emerged from the water, opening its massive mouth to swallow Zhang Ruochen in one gulp.
"So it's a fourth-rank mid-level barbarian beast, the Black Wind Water Python."
The Black Wind Water Python was a tyrant of the waters, not only moving freely through the water but also controlling the power of hurricanes, whipping up fierce winds and creating massive waves.
Whenever the Black Wind Water Python grew angry, villages along hundreds of miles of the river would suffer.
Zhang Ruochen pressed his index and middle fingers together, and the Sword Heart in his brow's qi sea immediately lit up, releasing a surge of sword intent.
"Whoosh!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword let out a sword cry, flying off Zhang Ruochen's back like a sword dragon, plunging into the Black Wind Water Python's mouth with a "chi" sound.