One Month Appointment

"A Mid Stage Warrior at the Black Realm shouldn't be underestimated. Moreover, the Third Prince is comparatively weaker among those at the Black Realm." Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.

With each fist strike he received from the Third Prince, part of the force would be passed to the ground through his bones and meridians.

Therefore, even if the Third Prince could display the strength of 100 bulls, he still could not hurt Zhang Ruochen.

If the Third Prince's opponent was someone other than Zhang Ruochen, the Full Stage Warrior at the Yellow Realm would probably be squashed to death with one strike.

"Although the Third Prince is an idiot, his cultivation is still strong. It seems that Zhang Ruochen is going to lose," said Lin Ningshan.

Lin Chenyu shook his head in disagreement and said, "No, he isn't. The cultivation of Zhang Ruochen is powerful beyond imagination. The Third Prince won't be able to defeat him."

Lin Ningshan was confused. "Why? Zhang Ruochen is beaten up to the point where he can only fall back into retreat. He didn't even have a chance to fight back."

Lin Chenyu pointed his finger toward the ground and said, "Look carefully. Look at the ground where Zhang Ruochen has stamped his feet on."

Following the direction of his finger, Lin Ningshan looked down at the ground. She noticed that slate of the ground sunk a little after each step Zhang Ruochan had made, leaving a shallow footprint on the ground. If she had not observed carefully, she would not have noticed it.

"He defuses the Third Prince's power into the earth." Lin Ningshan was amazed and added on, "How can he do that?"

"Zhang Ruochen has excellent control of his own power. No matter how powerful the Third Prince is, he won't be able to defeat Zhang Ruochen. If the foolish Third Prince didn't challenge him, we'd never know the true strength of Zhang Ruochen," said Lin Chenyu.

"If we want to hire an assassin to kill him, I guess we'll need to double up on the bounty."

Lin Chenyu grinned slightly.

Besides Lin Chenyu, only General Huo Si, whose cultivation had reached the Earth Realm, could discern Zhang Ruochen's true strength. He could not help but nod his head in acknowledgement. Zhang Ruochen was indeed a genius of martial arts.

Ninth Commandery Princess was very worried about Zhang Ruochen. She said, "Ninth brother, don't use brute force to fight with him. Take this sword!"

The Ninth Commandery Princess threw the sword in her hand to Zhang Ruochen.

Zhang Ruochen was thinking about fighting the Third Prince in order to practice his palm techniques.

Since the Ninth Commandery Princess had thrown him a sword, he naturally caught it and said, "Well... let's finish it quickly."

"Boom!"

Holding the hilt, Zhang Ruochen flicked his wrist and displayed a series of gorgeous sword techniques. A dazzling sword radiance could be seen whenever the sword sliced through the air, unfolding a beautiful arc before everyone's eyes.

He swung his sword forward. The sharp end of his sword pointed at the Third Prince's neck.

He subdued the Third Prince in one stroke.

The Third Prince's fist paused in midair, and he did not dare move in the slightest. If he made a wrong move, his neck would be sliced open by the sword instantly.

Everybody in the arena was stunned by the scene before them. They could not have been more shocked.

Why did the Third Prince lose? He obviously had the upper hand throughout the fight. The Ninth Prince was even pushed back into retreat!

"It was my ninth brother who didn't unleash his full power. Otherwise, he could easily defeat my third brother from the very beginning." The Young Commandery Princess said with her hands clasped behind her back. Her big bright eyes were shining, showing her admiration toward Zhang Ruochen.

Other princes and princesses belatedly realized that the Ninth Prince was playing with the Third Prince all along.

"Indeed, the Ninth Prince is a martial arts genius! He has only reached the Completion of the Yellow Realm and yet, he can defeat a Mid-Stage Warrior at the Black Realm. I can't imagine how powerful he will be after breaking through the Black Realm!"

"It is said that the power of the Yellow Realm is 100 bulls. I wonder if the Ninth Prince has reached the legendary Power of Realm?"

"Even if he hasn't reached that realm, I would say he's not far from it."

...

The Third Prince was fuming with rage as well as humiliation when he heard people complimenting the Ninth Prince.

He was looking forward to obtain a sense of achievement by defeating the Ninth Prince. But unexpectedly, he was easily defeated with a single sword stroke.

What a great shame!

"I am not convinced! Ninth brother, let's have another battle!" The Third Prince attributed his failure to his own negligence.

"No more fighting. Does it really matter who wins or loses?"

Having said that, Zhang Ruochen then turned away from the Third Prince, walked toward the Ninth Commandery Princess and returned the sword to her. The Third Prince was left standing like a fool.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier that you could win the third brother?" The Ninth Commandery Princess said angrily and gave Zhang a sideways glance. "I was quite worried about you."

"A guaranteed win? There is no such thing in this world." Zhang Ruochen chuckled while shaking his head and said.

A twinge of displeasure ran through Lin Ningshan's heart after she saw how intimate Zhang Ruochen and the Ninth Commandery Princess were. She took her sword, strode toward the Ninth Commandery Princess and said slowly, "Ninth Princess, I heard that you've reached the Realm of Sword Following the Mind. I suddenly feel an itch to have a go. Let's compete our sword techniques. How about that?"

"Okay! I have been waiting for this opportunity for some time. Since we're already here at the Royal Coliseum, let's do a battle!" said the Ninth Commandery Princess. A hint of war intent appeared in her eyes.

The Ninth Commandery Princess and Lin Ningshan were known as the Two Beauties in the Yunwu City. But, the Ninth Commandery Princess had lost to Lin Ningshan in the Year-end Assessment. Obviously, she was not convinced of her loss. Since then, she had always wanted to fight again and defeat Lin Ningshan.

"Blue Water Listening to the Sea."

The first to launch an attack was the Ninth Commandery Princess. The moment her sword was swung, a ferocious wave of air was swept up, sweeping toward Lin Ningshan wave after wave.

"Clank!"

Rumbling sounds rang out in the air. Her sword waves resembled the surging tidewater, as if they were actually beating against the shore.

After the Ninth Commandery Princess had reached the initial realm of Sword Following the Mind, the sophistication of her sword techniques had also reached a new height. Compared to her performance in the Year-end Assessment, she had greatly improved in terms of accuracy and precision.

Lin Ningshan stood still and did not move an inch. Her glittering red lips revealed a disdainful smile.

"Swish!"

Lin charged forward with her sword. A powerful wave of icing cold Sword Breath emitted from the sword tip, blocking all sword techniques unleashed by the Ninth Commandery Princess.

"Let your sword go!"

Lin Ningshan let out a low growl and slapped her sword down onto the Ninth Commandery Princess' wrist.

The blow left a bruise on the Ninth Commandery Princess' wrist. She no longer had any energy to hold onto her sword. The sword was sent flying off to the side and clattered down onto the ground.

There was a blood mark on her wrist. She staggered a few steps backward as the pain spread through every part of her body. Enraged, she clenched her teeth tightly and said, "You…"

Lin Ningshan pulled her Splendor Sword back in a graceful manner. Faking a gasp, she said, "Isn't the Ninth Commandery Princess a God's favored daughter? You can't even hold a sword! I guess the gap between our cultivation is getting bigger and bigger! Aw!"

"Lin Ningshan! Don't you dare humiliate me on purpose!" The Ninth Commandery Princess was irritated. Her face flushed red with shame.

The truth was both Lin Ningshan and Zhang Yuxi were regarded as the God's favored daughter. Being defeated in a single, effortless swipe of Lin Ningshan's sword had obviously crushed her pride.

"I don't dare," said Lin Ningshan, laughing, "I just didn't expect your sword technique would be so bad."

Zhang Ruochen picked up the sword from the ground and went to the side of the Ninth Commandery Princess, "Lin Ningshan, your cultivation has reached the Final State of the Yellow Realm, which is one realm higher than my ninth sister. Do you think by defeating her can prove that you're better than her? You're too immature!"

Lin Ningshan's face turned gloomy upon hearing his words. "You mean I'm being childish? Everyone can see that I've defeated the Ninth Commandery Princess with just one sword strike! Her capability was never worth comparing to mine."

Lin Ningshan held her head up high like an arrogant white swan.

The Ninth Commandery Princess almost burst into tears seeing how Lin Ningshan behaved. She felt extremely resentful, but she could not do anything about it as she was indeed not her opponent.

Zhang Ruochen stared at Lin Ningshan and said, "In that case, let's fight again after one month. If you can defeat my ninth sister by then, I'll apologize for what I said earlier."

His words took the Ninth Commandery Princess by surprise. She looked at Zhang Ruochen and shook her head in disagreement.

What if she lost to Lin Ningshan again after a month? Her ninth brother would have to apologize to the disgraceful woman!

Lin Ningshan was overjoyed hearing what Zhang Ruochen had proposed. She quickly agreed to the challenge and said, "Fine! Zhang Ruochen, mark your words! I am looking forward to hearing an apology from a martial art genius."

"If you lose, you'll have to apologize to my sister in front of everyone," Zhang Ruochen added.

"Deal." Lin Ningshan had great confidence in herself and thus, she agreed without hesitation.

Lin Ningshan had been humiliated by Zhang Ruochen in the Year-end Assessment and thus, she hated him so much.

If she defeated the Ninth Commandery Princess after a month, she definitely would not go easy on Zhang Ruochen.

"An apology?"

"Zhang Ruochen, you're too naive!"

Suddenly, she realized that humiliating Zhang Ruochen would be much more exciting than killing him.

Then, Lin Ningshan and Lin Chenyu left the Royal Coliseum.

Lin Chenyu spoke while leaving the Coliseum, "Zhang Ruochen is not as naive as he seems. He must have possessed a certainty of success and hence, he proposed the fight. Ningshan, you better be careful!"

"My brother, stop overthinking. The Qi Accumulating Liquid you brought back from Yuntai Suzerain is going to help my cultivation. I'm sure I can practice till the peak of the Final State after one month. By then, I'll be much stronger than the Ninth Commandery Princess and our gap will only get bigger."

Lin Chenyu nodded and said, "It's true that the Qi Accumulating Liquid will boost your cultivation significantly. Work hard then, my sister. Try your best to reach the Completion of the Yellow Realm as soon as possible. I'll then give you a Dark Blood Pill which will accelerate your progress, so that you can break through the Black Realm quickly."

"The Black Realm!" Lin Ningshan could not hide the smile on her face.

Lin Chenyu added, "When you reach the Black Realm, it's going to be easier for you to enroll into the Yuntai Suzerain. With your talent, it shouldn't be a problem. The Ninth Commandery Princess is just a stepping-stone on your way to success. As for Zhang Ruochen, he will die going against the Queen! Haha!"

Lin Ningshan's eyes shone with a strange light. She appeared to be very excited, obviously looking forward to the match next month.

Her lips curled up into a charming smile as she imagined Zhang Ruochen's apology.