Chapter 374: Eastern Domain Sacred City
Senior Brother Zi Hansha had actually been defeated so miserably.
The talented students of the Southern Cloud Commandery Martial Market Academy all exchanged glances, feeling a chill run through them as they involuntarily stepped back.
Although Zi Hansha appeared to have fallen quite hard, he was actually not injured. Zhang Ruochen had precisely controlled the force of that strike, not intending to harm him.
Though uninjured, his face was utterly lost. Zi Hansha stared at Zhang Ruochen with cold eyes, struck the deck with his palm, and used the reverse force of his true qi to flip upright, ready to fight Zhang Ruochen again.
"Hansha, you have already lost. Withdraw."
He Yunlou, dressed in a golden robe, stood with his hands behind his back, an angry expression on his face. He had somehow already arrived on the deck and exhaled a stream of true qi.
"Whoosh!"
The true qi transformed into a gale, blocking Zi Hansha.
Although Zi Hansha was a prodigy of his generation, having reached the pinnacle of martial arts, he could not break through He Yunlou's single breath of qi and was held back behind the windstorm.
No matter how high your talent or how strong your cultivation, before a Fish-Dragon Realm cultivator, you were still merely a mortal martial artist.
In the end, Zi Hansha withdrew unwillingly, though his gaze was extremely venomous.
Clearly, Zhang Ruochen had made an enemy of him.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head slightly. He had anticipated this outcome when he decided to "spar" with him.
Unless Zhang Ruochen deliberately lost to him, the two would inevitably become enemies.
Zhang Ruochen was also a man of pride. If he did not make a move, fine; but once he did, he would never deliberately lose to his opponent.
Zhang Ruochen clasped his hands together, bowed respectfully to He Yunlou from a distance, and then withdrew.
Returning to his quarters, Zhang Ruochen once again entered the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal to begin cultivating.
With his current strength, Zhang Ruochen was already quite powerful, but after seeing Zi Hansha, he realized he still had many shortcomings.
First and foremost was his cultivation realm.
At the same realm, even a Saint Body Demon Heart like Di Yi had lost to him. But what if his opponent had a higher realm?
Even Zi Hansha had already reached the Heavenly Extreme Realm Minor Pole Position in martial cultivation.
When he arrived at the Eastern Domain Sacred City, there would surely be talents like Zi Hansha, and even those with higher cultivation than him.
Zhang Ruochen dared not be careless. If he could reach the late Heavenly Extreme Realm before the Sacred Academy assessment, that would be ideal.
In the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal, he had three times the cultivation time of others, so he naturally had to use it wisely.
Over the next half month, Zhang Ruochen focused entirely on refining the Dragon Pearl, only going out every evening to accompany Lin Fei for dinner. The rest of the time, he was almost always cultivating.
Of course, he sometimes encountered Xue Yingrou.
She wanted to consult him on swordsmanship, and Zhang Ruochen did not refuse, so he pointed out some flaws in her sword techniques.
Xue Yingrou's cultivation was not weak; she had already reached the mid Heavenly Extreme Realm. In terms of talent, she was only slightly inferior to Zi Hansha, having once passed the fifth level of the Nine Absolute Tower.
A Five-Absolute Talent.
With her talent, in the Demon Ridge, she would be far beyond the reach of countless martial artists. Only Luo Shuihan of the Luo family could surpass her.
In swordsmanship, she had reached the peak of Sword Following the Heart's Movement, though still far behind Zhang Ruochen, she was already more skilled than many of her peers.
In terms of overall strength, she could definitely rank in the top five among the talented students of the Southern Cloud Commandery Martial Market Academy.
However, her sword techniques were too gentle, lacking a certain sharpness, which prevented her from advancing further.
"You lack practical combat experience. If you had more, your swordsmanship would have advanced long ago," Zhang Ruochen said.
Xue Yingrou sighed, her eyes glistening with a pitiful expression. "I come from a humble background. Unlike you, I don't have a prominent family with strong protectors by my side. If I went out to train, I would either die in the mouths of barbarian beasts or be captured by evil men of the Black Market. So, most of the time, I can only train hard in the academy, naturally having few life-or-death battles."
Zhang Ruochen had simply wanted to exchange martial arts and swordsmanship with Xue Yingrou, but her intentions seemed less than pure.
Once, while he was instructing her in swordsmanship, she suddenly kissed him on the cheek, then acted shy and ran off.
Xue Yingrou thought that with her beauty and her proactive kiss, Zhang Ruochen would surely understand her intentions and immediately chase after her.
If that happened, she had a series of plans to completely win him over.
Zhang Ruochen naturally understood why Xue Yingrou had taken the initiative to kiss him. She must have mistaken him for a successor of some major power, hoping to latch onto him and rise above others.
This method was naive.
Moreover, he could clearly feel her lips trembling slightly as they pressed against his cheek, showing she was nervous—it was likely her first time kissing a man.
Admittedly, she was going all out to win him over.
"If she knew I was just a martial artist from a lower commandery in the Demon Ridge, she would probably regret it and cry herself to death."
Zhang Ruochen watched Xue Yingrou's retreating figure, remaining calm. He did not chase after her, wiped the lip print off his cheek, and returned to the Time-Space Crystal to continue cultivating.
It was not the first time he had been "forcefully kissed," so Zhang Ruochen had long developed immunity.
Zhang Ruochen's reaction, however, left Xue Yingrou deeply disappointed.
In her room, Xue Yingrou waited a full quarter of an hour without seeing Zhang Ruochen come after her. She quietly went out, only to find the deck empty.
"How could this be? Does my beauty hold no appeal to him at all?"
Xue Yingrou bit her lip tightly, feeling frustrated. She had even given her first kiss, yet he remained unmoved. Did she need to go further?
She continued to think of ways to win Zhang Ruochen over.
Unfortunately, she did not see him again for some time. It was not until they reached the Eastern Domain Sacred City that Zhang Ruochen stopped cultivating and left his room.
Half a month had passed in the outside world, but Zhang Ruochen had cultivated for forty-five days in the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal.
In his Qi Sea, the amount of true qi had reached five thousand one hundred drops.
Although still far from the late Heavenly Extreme Realm, he had made significant progress, and his true qi had become much denser.
On this day, the Silver Moon Ship finally arrived at Tiankun Ferry, a thousand miles from the Eastern Domain Sacred City.
If one had strong cultivation, standing at Tiankun Ferry and looking up slightly, they could see the massive shadow of the Eastern Domain Sacred City.
The Eastern Domain Sacred City was not an ordinary city; it was, in fact, a planet.
Legend had it that in ancient times, a planet with a diameter of ten thousand miles fell from the sky, landing on the land of the Eastern Domain Divine Soil. The entire Eastern Domain shook violently, countless humans and barbarian beasts died, and the dust in the sky took a hundred years to settle completely.
Later, an ancient human saint personally investigated the planet and discovered it was a treasure planet, rich in spirit crystals and saint crystals, along with many precious minerals for artifact forging. The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was ten times denser than elsewhere, making it a sacred land for cultivation.
Thus, human martial artists climbed onto the fallen planet, establishing families and sects there.
Over countless years, the planet attracted thousands of martial artists, gradually building it into a massive city, becoming the center of the Eastern Domain.
It was later named the "Eastern Domain Sacred City."
Standing a thousand miles away, gazing at the massive spherical shadow that nearly covered half the sky, one felt an inexplicable fear. The aura it emitted seemed to crush one's breath.
Zhang Ruochen secretly opened his Heavenly Eye and looked toward the Eastern Domain Sacred City. He vaguely saw what seemed like hundreds of billions of inscription patterns floating on the surface of that planetary city, merging with the white clouds.
Just one glance inspired awe.
Through the clouds and inscriptions, one could see continents and blue seas, like an independent world.
"Only true great divine abilities could build such a fallen star into an eternal sacred city."
Tiankun Ferry was one of the eight major ferries on the outskirts of the Eastern Domain Sacred City. The eight ferries were arranged according to the eight trigrams of the Taiji Path: Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, and Dui.
Though called a ferry, compared to the Eastern Domain Sacred City, Tiankun Ferry was more like a city itself.
Martial artists from all directions had to go to the eight ferries, board the White Dragon Sacred Ship, and pass through the inscription barrier above the Eastern Domain Sacred City to enter the sacred city.
As students of the Martial Market Academy coming to participate in the Sacred Academy assessment, Zhang Ruochen and the others naturally had personnel from the Martial Market Academy waiting at the eight ferries.
They only needed to confirm their identities, register, and then board the White Dragon Sacred Ship to head to the Eastern Domain Sacred City.
This was a privilege exclusive to Martial Market Academy students.
Other martial artists wanting to go to the Eastern Domain Sacred City faced considerable trouble. They had to pay a huge entry fee, apply for a temporary residence permit, and wait in line. Sometimes, even waiting a month or two was normal.
The Eastern Domain Sacred City had strict rules. Even if you were a Fish-Dragon Realm powerhouse, breaking the rules would get you arrested by the army's strongmen and thrown into prison.