Chapter 405: Native Barbarian Beasts, Native Humans
The "Heavenly Ranking" jade stele absorbed a drop of Zhang Ruochen's blood, signifying that every move he made in the Ruins Realm would be monitored by the Heavenly Ranking. [Latest chapter reading.]
This was not a big deal.
Zhang Ruochen had indeed concealed some of his strength, but in the eyes of the Heavenly Ranking's artifact spirit, it was like an ant gaining the power of a cockroach.
Whether it was an ant or a cockroach, the Heavenly Ranking's artifact spirit could easily crush them with a single step. Therefore, even if Zhang Ruochen used his hidden power, the artifact spirit would not take it too seriously.
Moreover, the main function of the Heavenly Ranking's artifact spirit was to tally the military merit points of martial artists; it would not have the energy to spy on the secrets of a mere Heavenly Extreme Realm student.
Behind him, a low voice came.
"Zhang Ruochen, the Five Elements Ruins Realm will be your burial ground."
Zhang Ruochen turned around and looked in the direction of the voice, just in time to see Xu Qing's cold smile.
"With your strength, I'm afraid you still fall short of me," Zhang Ruochen said.
Xu Qing stood ten steps away, laughing, "Is that so? Don't you know that I have already broken through to the Middle Extreme Position of the Heavenly Extreme Realm? Zhang Ruochen, your good days are over."
Xu Qing was originally at the peak of the Small Extreme Position of the Heavenly Extreme Realm. After being defeated by Zhang Ruochen on the Pilgrimage Heavenly Staircase, he did not become disheartened; instead, he broke through the bottleneck of his realm, advancing his martial path further.
"In the Five Elements Ruins Realm, I will not only kill you with my own hands but also capture your fiancée, Huang Yanchen, and make her my woman. Heh!"
With his realm breakthrough, Xu Qing's confidence soared, and he showed a playful look in his eyes, as if deliberately provoking Zhang Ruochen.
What were the so-called Six Kings of the New Generation? Just a bunch of kids, nothing more than dirt and dogs in his presence.
"If you want to die, I will grant your wish," Zhang Ruochen said, his eyes narrowing with a sharp, cold light.
"Whoosh!"
Then, the power of the Heavenly Ranking acted upon Zhang Ruochen.
He felt his body lighten, and he left the Chaos Myriad Realms Mountain, entering the passage to the Five Elements Ruins Realm.
At that moment, the voice of the Heavenly Ranking's artifact spirit echoed in Zhang Ruochen's mind: "Let all students know that in the Five Elements Ruins Realm, there are five types of rare spiritual treasures that can enhance cultivation: Golden Divine Fungus, Purple Cloud Agarwood, Black Water Glazed Crystal, Spirit Fire Source, and Saint-Nourishing Sacred Soil."
"These five treasures are so valuable that even Half-Saints would fight over them. If any of you can obtain even one, you can save ten years of bitter cultivation. Of course, these five treasures are not easy to obtain and come with great danger. I hope you can act within your limits."
After the voice of the Heavenly Ranking's artifact spirit faded, Zhang Ruochen felt a dizzying spin, as if falling into an abyss.
Then, a layer of light curtain appeared before him. Zhang Ruochen leaped forward and passed through it.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen fell from a height of over ten meters above the ground but quickly stabilized his center of gravity and landed steadily.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen stood on a mountainside, with no one else around. Not far away, towering ancient trees grew, with thick vines as wide as a bowl emerging from the ground, winding around the trunks and climbing upward.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath, and a stream of fresh air rushed into his body, carrying a faint fragrance of grass and wood.
"The concentration of spiritual energy is about one-tenth of that in the Kunlun Realm, quite thin. It should be impossible for beings at the Half-Saint level to be born here."
Based on the spiritual energy concentration of a world, one could roughly determine the upper limit of cultivation that beings in that world could achieve.
The Five Elements Ruins Realm was a lower-level Ruins Realm. Generally speaking, the strongest beings there were at the Fish-Dragon Realm level, with a very low possibility of Half-Saints.
Of course, these Ruins Realms had existed for a very long time, nurturing many natural treasures. Some favored children of heaven and earth could also cultivate to extremely high realms.
The place where Zhang Ruochen was located seemed to be a primeval ancient forest. Although it could not compare to the primeval ancient forests of the Kunlun Realm, it still harbored many dangers, requiring caution.
"First, search for those five treasures."
Zhang Ruochen was not in a hurry to complete the assessment. One hundred military merit points were not difficult for him.
Finding treasures and improving his cultivation were the real priorities.
Zhang Ruochen mobilized his spiritual power, activating the Heavenly Eye between his brows to survey the surrounding environment.
After a moment, Zhang Ruochen made a discovery.
"Sixty miles to the northeast, there is the aura of a fourth-rank barbarian beast."
Where powerful barbarian beasts dwell, there must be treasures.
With a whoosh, Zhang Ruochen activated his movement technique and shot out.
Zhang Ruochen's speed exceeded the speed of sound. In a short while, he arrived at the mountain forest where the lair of that fourth-rank barbarian beast was located.
Ruins Realm natives did not necessarily refer only to Ruins Realm humans.
Ruins Realm barbarian beasts were also classified as natives.
As soon as he entered that forest, Zhang Ruochen smelled a strong stench of blood. Piles of white bones lay on the ground.
"Roar!"
Sensing a powerful intruder entering its territory, that fourth-rank barbarian beast let out a sky-shaking roar and charged out of its cave.
A fourth-rank mid-level barbarian beast, the Nine-Toothed Winged Tiger.
The Nine-Toothed Winged Tiger was four meters tall and seven meters long, with overall strength comparable to a martial artist at the Middle Extreme Position of the Heavenly Extreme Realm. It was the king of a hundred-mile radius.
Its wings flapped, stirring up a massive gale. With a series of whooshing sounds, seventeen wind blades flew out from the gale, slashing toward Zhang Ruochen.
"Just arriving at the Five Elements Ruins Realm, and I encounter such a formidable barbarian beast. It seems the overall strength here is quite high, no wonder it was chosen as the location for the third round of assessment."
Zhang Ruochen released his Protective Heavenly Gang, easily blocking the wind blades unleashed by the Nine-Toothed Winged Tiger.
The Nine-Toothed Winged Tiger possessed high intelligence. Seeing that Zhang Ruochen's strength was beyond its ability to defeat, it immediately turned and fled deeper into the forest.
"Trying to escape?"
"Supreme Vein Sword Wave."
Zhang Ruochen pointed his right thumb forward, sending out a cold sword wave that struck the Nine-Toothed Winged Tiger.
"Whoosh!"
The Nine-Toothed Winged Tiger's body shattered into pieces, chunks of flesh flying out, blood splattering on the spot. It was dead beyond dead.
Zhang Ruochen entered the Nine-Toothed Winged Tiger's cave and found some medicinal herbs and fruits, mostly one or two hundred years old, considered low-grade spiritual medicines.
Gathering those low-grade spiritual medicines, Zhang Ruochen casually picked up a green spiritual fruit, took a bite, and began to analyze, muttering to himself, "Although I didn't find the five treasures the Heavenly Ranking's artifact spirit mentioned, I still gained something—at least twenty merit points."
"When the Nine-Toothed Winged Tiger realized it couldn't defeat me, it fled straight into the depths of the forest. Could there be some powerful barbarian beast deeper in that could protect it?"
Zhang Ruochen became intrigued. With his current strength, even if he encountered a fifth-rank barbarian beast, he had the ability to escape. Why not explore the depths of the forest?
Finishing the spiritual fruit in two bites, Zhang Ruochen, carrying the Purple Thunder Sword on his back, immediately set off deeper into the forest.
Although the Five Elements Ruins Realm was a lower-level Ruins Realm, it was still vast.
Zhang Ruochen traveled about six hundred miles before reaching the depths of this primeval ancient forest. The surrounding mountains became taller and steeper, the trees denser, and the ground covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves.
Along the way, Zhang Ruochen killed four more barbarian beasts: three fourth-rank lower-level barbarian beasts and one fourth-rank mid-level barbarian beast, earning twenty-two military merit points.
Adding the previous twenty merit points, Zhang Ruochen now had forty-two military merit points.
It must be said that as long as one's cultivation was high enough, passing the third round of the Saint Academy assessment was an extremely simple matter.
Of course, there was another prerequisite.
It was not just about accumulating one hundred military merit points; one also had to survive for a month in the Five Elements Ruins Realm.
Many people, even if they had the strength to earn one hundred military merit points, died at the hands of Ruins Realm natives—a very common occurrence.
Therefore, no matter how strong you were, you still needed to be cautious to pass the assessment.
For example, Zhang Ruochen was now taking a risk by actively venturing into the depths of Demon Ape Ridge. Other students would never do something so foolish.
Demon Ape Ridge was considered a dangerous place in the entire Five Elements Ruins Realm.
Zhang Ruochen activated his Heavenly Eye again and discovered a deep valley filled with black miasma.
An unusually intense fluctuation came from the valley, and even with Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, he felt a hint of danger.
"Interesting."
Zhang Ruochen, bold and skilled, did not conceal his aura and walked directly toward the deep valley.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
At the mouth of the valley, two figures flashed out.
One wore a yellow robe, and the other wore a cyan robe.
Their faces were covered with metal masks.
The man in the yellow robe held a crystal divine staff and said in a deep voice, "Who goes there? Don't you know this is the cultivation ground of Master Longze?"
"So, these are native human cultivators of the Five Elements Ruins Realm."
Zhang Ruochen frowned slightly. He had originally expected to encounter a powerful fifth-rank barbarian beast in the depths of the forest but did not expect to run into native humans so soon.
Zhang Ruochen knew nothing about the Five Elements Ruins Realm, so he could extract some information from them.
They probably did not yet know that a large number of experts from foreign worlds had entered the Five Elements Ruins Realm.
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen did not speak, the man in the yellow robe scolded, "Kid, if you don't leave immediately, don't blame me for being rude!"
The man in the yellow robe raised his crystal divine staff.
A yellow light radiated from the spherical crystal at the top of the staff, forming a powerful wave of energy.
The world rules were different, and their cultivation methods seemed somewhat different from those of the Kunlun Realm.
Even the language was different. However, Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power had reached the fortieth rank, allowing him to easily understand any language and learn any language with ease.
Only those with spiritual power at the fortieth rank had such an ability.
Zhang Ruochen finally spoke, "Who are you? And who is this Master Longze you mentioned? If you answer my questions honestly, I might, considering we are all humans, spare your lives."