Chapter 456: Gathering of Experts
A look of delight appeared in Zhang Ruochen's eyes, and he immediately asked, "Which of the five elemental treasures did you obtain in the Five Elements Ruins Realm?"
In the Five Elements Ruins Realm, Zhang Ruochen had obtained three types of five elemental treasures: Black Water Liuli Crystal, Purple Cloud Sinking Incense Wood, and Golden Divine Fungus.
However, there were still two treasures he had not acquired.
Zhang Ruochen naturally had ambitions in his martial arts cultivation. He did not merely want to cultivate a Dual Treasure Body or a Triple Treasure Body; he aimed to cultivate the Five Elements Chaos Body, which surpassed even a Saint Body.
If a person has no ambition, how can they rise above others?
If a martial artist has no ambition, how can they become a supreme powerhouse?
"One of the five treasures, Saint-Nourishing Sacred Earth."
Duanmu Xingling blinked her eyes, a smile on her face, and continued, "As long as you can defeat Lu Fantian, I can give you a portion of Saint-Nourishing Sacred Earth."
"No need. I also happen to have obtained three types of five elemental treasures. I can trade two of them, Black Water Liuli Crystal and Purple Cloud Sinking Incense Wood, with you," Zhang Ruochen said.
The quantity of Golden Divine Fungus was scarce. Before he had cultivated the Golden Treasure Body, Zhang Ruochen would not easily trade or sell it. However, he had plenty of Black Water Liuli Crystal and Purple Cloud Sinking Incense Wood.
From her conversation with Zhang Ruochen, Duanmu Xingling could sense his distance from her.
In the past, if she wanted to give him a treasure, he would never have been so polite with her.
She gave him a deep look but did not say anything more.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, the Martial Market Arena erupted with earth-shattering cheers. Everyone stood up, shouting the name "Lu Fantian."
It turned out that while Zhang Ruochen and Duanmu Xingling were talking, Lu Fantian had already defeated Yi Qusheng and knocked him off the Heavenly Level Battle Platform.
Yi Qusheng was ranked within the top ten thousand on the Heavenly Ranking and could contend with experts at the first transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm. Many had not expected him to lose to Lu Fantian so quickly, lasting only ninety-two moves.
"Lu Fantian is only at the Great Extreme Position of the Heavenly Extreme Realm, yet he can defeat Yi Qusheng within a hundred moves. Within five years, Lu Fantian will surely reach the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Extreme Realm. After accumulating a few more years, he might have a chance to break into the top ten of the Heavenly Ranking."
"That seems unlikely! The top ten figures on the Heavenly Ranking are either Saint Bodies or proud sons of heaven who can contend with Saint Bodies at the same cultivation level. The difficulty of breaking into the top ten of the Heavenly Ranking is ten or even a hundred times greater than breaking into the Fish-Dragon Realm."
"Haven't you noticed? With Lu Fantian's current strength, at the same cultivation level, he is already not much weaker than a Saint Body."
"What? He's that strong?"
...
...
The entire Martial Market Arena was stunned by the power Lu Fantian had displayed. Some senior experts who had already stepped into the Fish-Dragon Realm even predicted that within ten years, Lu Fantian would have a chance to enter the top ten of the Heavenly Ranking.
Currently, millions of martial artists were on the Heavenly Ranking, spread across the entire Kunlun Realm. However, only those who entered the top one hundred or top ten would be remembered by the masses and truly become famous throughout the world.
It could be said that the top ten of the Heavenly Ranking was an extremely high honor.
In a great era teeming with geniuses, even a Saint Body might not necessarily rank in the top ten of the Heavenly Ranking.
An old man in a purple robe, sitting above the Heavenly Level Battle Platform, announced, "Lu Fantian of the Divine Sword Holy Land has defeated Yi Qusheng of the Suspended Void Sect, replacing Yi Qusheng's rank at 5,800 on the Heavenly Ranking and earning 287,000 military merit points. Lu Fantian, do you wish to challenge a higher rank on the Heavenly Ranking?"
Lu Fantian stood proudly at the center of the Heavenly Level Battle Platform. He turned around, his gaze fixed on Zhang Ruochen, and raised his arm, pointing his sword at him. "Zhang Ruochen, since you're here, let us have a fair battle. Today, I want to see just how strong the young king of the Eastern Domain truly is."
Following Lu Fantian's gaze, the crowd all turned to look at Zhang Ruochen.
"What? Zhang Ruochen is also here at the Martial Market Arena? Lu Fantian actually wants to fight him?" A young martial artist in his teens was very surprised, searching everywhere for Zhang Ruochen's figure.
A bald man in plain clothes sat in the first row of the Martial Market Arena. He was tall and burly, with a fierce face, looking like a butcher.
However, his eyes were incredibly deep, filled with the light of wisdom, giving him a completely different temperament from his physique.
The bald man crossed his arms over his chest and said to the young man beside him, "Don't you know? I came to the Martial Market Arena today specifically to watch their battle. This is a clash of dragons and tigers. Both are top-tier proud sons of heaven. If they don't fight, it's hard to say who is stronger."
Hanging from the bald man's waist were four tokens: a black Iron Token of the Yellow Level, a green Bronze Token of the Mysterious Level, a white Silver Token of the Earth Level, and a golden Gold Token of the Heavenly Level. These represented his rankings on the Yellow Ranking at the Yellow Extreme Realm, the Mysterious Ranking at the Mysterious Extreme Realm, the Earth Ranking at the Earth Extreme Realm, and the Heavenly Ranking at the Heavenly Extreme Realm.
The Yellow Level Iron Token was inscribed with the words "First on the Yellow Ranking." The Mysterious Level Bronze Token was inscribed with "First on the Mysterious Ranking." The Earth Level Silver Token was inscribed with "First on the Earth Ranking."
As for the last golden Heavenly Level Gold Token, it was covered by the three tokens above, so the inscription on it could not be seen, nor could his rank on the Heavenly Ranking be determined.
However, seeing his rankings on the Yellow, Mysterious, and Earth Rankings was already terrifying enough. The young martial artist sitting next to him was stunned and dared not speak further.
To the left of the bald man sat a young woman with a veil covering her face.
Her eyes, exposed to the outside, were very beautiful.
She naturally also saw the three tokens on the bald man's waist but remained very relaxed. She snorted coldly and said, "I don't think so. Zhang Ruochen is only about twenty years old and has been cultivating martial arts for just a few years. Lu Fantian is twenty-six, so his martial arts cultivation must be above Zhang Ruochen's."
The bald man said, "So, you favor Lu Fantian?"
The veiled woman smiled and said, "If they were at the same cultivation level, Zhang Ruochen might be a bit stronger than Lu Fantian. But as for now, Zhang Ruochen should not be Lu Fantian's match."
"Perhaps," the bald man said.
Today, many Heavenly Ranking experts were hidden in the Martial Market Arena, some of whom had been famous for years. Usually, they were either training in the Ruins Realm battlefields or in seclusion cultivating.
But when they heard that Lu Fantian was going to publicly challenge Zhang Ruochen, one of the six young kings of the new generation, many Heavenly Ranking experts who were in seclusion specifically came out to watch the battle.
Many of them wanted to know just how strong Zhang Ruochen was. Was he worthy of the title "Young King"?
If Zhang Ruochen was not worthy, many wanted to take his place.
The title "Young King" was almost comparable to the honor of being in the top ten of the Heavenly Ranking.
With fame comes a target.
Countless talented individuals stood below, looking up at them, ready to rush up at any moment, knock them down, and take their place.
Under the gaze of the crowd, Zhang Ruochen, carrying the Abyssal Ancient Sword on his back, walked step by step onto the Heavenly Level Battle Platform and stood opposite Lu Fantian.
In an instant, the entire Martial Market Arena fell silent, and countless eyes became extremely fervent.
Zhang Ruochen remained calm and undisturbed by the outside world. He said, "Brother Lu, you have just fought eight battles and must have consumed a lot of true qi. I will wait for half an hour. Once you have recovered to your peak state, we can fight."
Lu Fantian did not stand on ceremony. He immediately took a Qi-Returning Pill and stood at the center of the Heavenly Level Battle Platform, beginning to recover his true qi.
This showed that he also took this battle very seriously. He knew that Zhang Ruochen would be difficult to defeat, so he could not afford to be arrogant.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes again, recalling Kong Lanyou's move, Heart-Guiding Finger, trying to continue comprehending the exquisite sword dao contained within that sword technique.
Although he had now reached the realm of Sword Heart Illumination, it was only the initial stage. Among cultivators at the Heavenly Extreme Realm and Fish-Dragon Realm, it was already quite remarkable. But in the eyes of Saints, it was still far from enough.
If he could comprehend one or two-tenths of the essence of Kong Lanyou's Heart-Guiding Finger, he would surely step into the intermediate stage of Sword Heart Illumination.
Half an hour passed quickly.
Lu Fantian opened his eyes again, a sharp gleam radiating from them. He said, "Zhang Ruochen, I have recovered to my peak state. Draw your sword."
"In that case, let the battle begin."
Zhang Ruochen did not open his eyes. He simply channeled his qi through his five fingers, and the Abyssal Ancient Sword on his back flew out, landing in his hand.
"Whoosh!"
He casually executed a move, the very one he had rehearsed countless times in his mind—Heart-Guiding Finger.
It appeared to be just one sword strike, but it created countless sword shadows, eventually converging into a sword path over ten meters long, extending all the way to Lu Fantian.
A simple low-grade spiritual sword technique, yet it made Lu Fantian feel as if it were unbreakable. The momentum he had built up was instantly shattered, forcing him to step back rapidly using his movement technique.
If he did not retreat, he would have no way to deal with Zhang Ruochen's subsequent sword moves.
What kind of cultivation was Kong Lanyou at? The Heart-Guiding Finger she executed could almost be considered a Saint's transmission of the dao. It was not just a sword duel with Zhang Ruochen but also a form of guidance for him.
And what kind of comprehension ability did Zhang Ruochen have? Although only a single day had passed, he had already grasped much of the true essence of that sword technique. Unknowingly, his sword dao realm had once again improved.
It was for this reason that by executing a single Heart-Guiding Finger, he could force an expert like Lu Fantian to retreat.
Just as Lu Fantian steadied his footing, bent his legs, and lowered his center of gravity, adopting a defensive posture to prepare for Zhang Ruochen's even fiercer sword attack,
He discovered that Zhang Ruochen's second move was still the same low-grade spiritual sword technique, Heart-Guiding Finger.
"Why is it this move again?"
Lu Fantian was extremely troubled.
A seemingly simple sword technique, yet it was filled with endless variations, making him dare not easily block it.
So, he could only use his movement technique again to dodge it.
Before Zhang Ruochen revealed his killing move, Lu Fantian remained cautious.
In this battle, he had to prove that he possessed the strength of a young king. Therefore, he absolutely could not lose, nor could he be careless.
Seeing the state of their battle, many martial artists on the viewing platform were puzzled and confused.
"Zhang Ruochen is actually fighting Lu Fantian with his eyes closed? Isn't that too arrogant?" The veiled woman frowned slightly, feeling a bit displeased.
In her view, Zhang Ruochen fighting with his eyes closed was a sign of disrespect to his opponent.
Duanmu Xingling smiled and said, "Given Zhang Ruochen's level of spiritual power, fighting with his eyes open or closed makes no difference. Don't you know that Zhang Ruochen's talent in spiritual power is even higher than his talent in martial arts?"
Then, Duanmu Xingling rested her chin on her hand, her beautiful eyes sparkling as she stared at the Heavenly Level Battle Platform, and continued, "Moreover, I think Zhang Ruochen is not fighting but has entered some kind of cultivation state. He should be comprehending a profound sword technique."
(Just one chapter today! As for the reason... Ah! Saying more would only bring tears. I'll try to make it up later... I can only ask everyone not to complain... Please spare me... I also want to write faster.)