The Choice

"Swoosh!"

Zhang Ruochen leapt from the water. Then he turned in the air and landed on the riverside.

The white Genuine Qi spewed out from his pores, drying up his wet clothes in a second.

Having reached the Black Realm, he was able to drizzle Genuine Qi as the Genuine Qi in his body was so solid, or turned the Genuine Qi into a Qi sword and killed people through the air.

Zhang Ruochen activated the Genuine Qi in his body and transferred it to the Meridians on his right hand. A gleam of white gas had gathered at the fingertip of his index finger. He dashed toward the Iron Pine 10 meters away.

"Boom!"

The white Qi sword had broken the tree trunk of the Iron Pine and left a fist-sized hole.

"It's a fairly average Sword Breath with such massive power! No doubt it's incomparable between warriors at the Black Realm and the Yellow Realm. If I cultivate the "Sword Ripple of Ten Channels", a martial technique of the superior class at the Spiritual Stage and put the Qi sword in use, I wonder how powerful it's going to be."

In Zhang Ruochen's last lifetime, he had cultivated the Sword Ripple of Ten Channels. He had turned all his 10 fingers into swords. With a random point, he would be able to display a sharp Qi sword that could kill people 100 meters away.

Yet, the Sword Ripple of Ten Channels was extremely hard to cultivate. Even though Zhang Ruochen had successfully cultivated it in his previous life, it's surely not an easy task to achieve that technique again.

At this moment, he felt like someone was coming over, so he retrieved all the Genuine Qi back to his body.

The Commandery Prince Yunwu walked toward Zhang Ruochen and glanced at him from head to toes. He nodded with satisfaction and asked, "Did you break through to the Black Realm?"

Zhang Ruochen didn't say much but nodded slightly.

Zhang Ruochen didn't have much affection toward the Commandery Prince Yunwu. Yet, he could feel how much the Commandery Prince Yunwu cared about him and thus he respected him a lot.

The Commandery Prince Yunwu said, "Attack me with your strongest power!"

Zhang Ruochen took a quick glance at him and said, "Okay!"

Having reached the Initial Stage of the Black Realm, Zhang Ruochen was eager to test his ability and see how far it could go.

Since he clearly knew that the Commandery Prince Yunwu would do whatever it took to protect him and would never hurt him, he was safe to display everything he had in front of the Commandery Prince Yunwu.

"Swish!"

Zhang Ruochen exploded his speed to the highest point that it exceeded 10 meters per second. He unleashed a palm toward the Commandery Prince Yunwu's chest. "Dragon and Elephant Returning to Earth".

The palm he displayed was the strongest with gigantic power. The bones and muscles in his body had all given out the sound of dragons and elephants roaring together.

The forceful palm wind forced the sand to flow in clouds.

Even though Zhang Ruochen's palm had unleashed on the Commandery Prince Yunwu, he neither moved an inch nor fought back.

"Boom!"

When Zhang Ruochen had released the palm on the Commandery Prince Yunwu's body, a vigorous power exploded from the Commandery Prince Yunwu.

Zhang Ruochen was thrown out far. The Spiritual Blood in his body kept rolling and he fell to the ground in an awkward position. He couldn't help but retreat 10 steps back so as to dissipate the powerful force.

The Commandery Prince Yunwu nodded and said, "Not bad! The power of your palm is stronger than most of the warriors at the Advanced Stage of the Black Realm. It's even more intense than some of the weaker warriors at the Dawn State of the Black Realm."

"Moreover, your biggest advantage is not your power, but your mastery of power and your sword technique which is the same as a warrior at the Earth Realm. All in all, I guess the warriors at the Dawn State of the Black Realm will not be able to defeat you. I guess you've indeed cultivated the Ultimate Realm of the Yellow Realm. Otherwise, you won't be able to obtain such power!"

Zhang Ruochen thought, "No doubt that I startled the Commandery Prince Yunwu when I resonated the Chord of Gods."

The Commandery Prince Yunwu looked at Zhang Ruochen with a softness in his eye. "With your talent, your achievement in the future will definitely be beyond me. Staying in the palace will only waste your talent and stop you from improving. You have two choices now if you want to keep boosting your martial arts cultivation."

"Your first choice, the Yuntai Suzerain. I guess you've heard of it before?"

Zhang Ruochen answered, "The Yuntai Suzerain is classified as a fourth-class suzerain that was established 720 years ago. They hold massive power and enjoy a particular superior status in the Western Nine Prefectures." Every princes, princesses, and child from the large-scale family of the commandery were all proud of being a member of the Yuntai Suzerain. The Yuntai Suzerain was known as the cradle of strong warriors. Almost half of the Heaven Realm warriors in the Western Nine Prefectures were the disciples of the Yuntai Suzerain.

The Western Nine Prefectures referred to the nine commanderies of the Western Ridge. The Yunwu Commandery was one of them.

The Commandery Prince Yunwu nodded and said, "I once was the disciple of the Yuntai Suzerain. The vice chief of the external Yuntai Suzerain is a senior of the Royal Family in the Yunwu Commandery as well as an uncle of mine. If you decide to join the Yuntai Suzerain, I'll draft a letter to my uncle. I'm sure you only need to demonstrate one-tenth of your talent in order to make it to the Yuntai Suzerain and become an external student of the suzerain."

Zhang Ruochen thought for a while and asked, "How about the second choice?"

The Commandery Prince Yunwu said, "The second choice is going to be relatively hard. If your talent is high enough and able to stand out among all the outstanding warriors, your achievement will be magnificent. Have you heard of the School of the Martial Market?"

"You mean the School of Martial Market operated by the Martial Market Bank?" Zhang Ruochen said.

The business of the Martial Market Bank had covered the entire Kunlun's Field. Every commandery, every city, and every town was related to the Martial Market Bank to a certain extent.

The Martial Market in all the commanderies were controlled by the Martial Market Bank. It is a fact that the Martial Market Bank had control over 30% of the economic systems in the entire Kunlun's Field.

The Martial Market Bank was more powerful than the Yuntai Suzerain to a large extent. It had passed on the power since the Medieval Ancient Times and was regarded as a "Money Empire". Not to mention the fourth-class Suzerain, even the first-class Suzerain didn't dare to confront the Martial Market Bank.

With such massive prosperity, the Martial Market Bank surely required a tremendously strong force for protection.

Therefore, the Martial Market Bank had established the Coliseum of the Martial Market and the School of the Martial Market.

The School of the Martial Market aimed to foster more and more talent for the Martial Market Bank so that it could be powerful ever after and become the money dominator of the Kunlun's Field.

The more outstanding the students were in the School of the Martial Market, the higher their status would be and more privileges they could enjoy after graduation.

The huge benefit of joining the School of the Martial Market was, they were always wealthy and would never lack resources for cultivation. The Martial Market Bank was the most powerful backer for the school.

Undoubtedly, it was extremely hard to get into the School of the Martial Market. It would only be more and more competitive each year so that a slight mistake would put the warriors to death.

Zhang Ruochen clearly understood how powerful the Martial Market Bank was. The Martial Market in the Yunwu Commandery was only a small part of the whole. The headquarters of the Martial Market Bank was larger than the royal court of the First Central Empire, both of whom controlled the fate of the world.

Zhang Ruochen asked, "Has the Martial Market Bank set up a school in the Yunwu Commandery yet?"

The Commandery Prince Yunwu shook his head slightly and said, "No. Not in the Yunwu Commandery but at the Omen Ridge. They've established a one-star school and specially enroll the talented warriors from the 36 commanderies at the border of the Omen Ridge including the Western, the Eastern, the Southern and the Northern Nine Prefectures."

Zhang Ruochen nodded with consent and said, "Okay! I'll join the School of the Martial Market!"

It would probably be less competitive for Zhang Ruochen to join the Yuntai Suzerain, and easier for him to cultivate. Yet, the potential of the Yuntai Suzerain was far less than the School of the Martial Market.

As far as Zhang Ruochen concerned, he was worried that it would not be competitive enough.

In terms of the Commandery Prince Yunwu, he was satisfied with Zhang Ruochen's decision. He said, "When you become a senior of the Martial Market Bank in the future, the Yunwu Commandery will also benefit. There's one more month until the enrollment day of the School of the Martial Market. You should keep your mind on enhancing the solidity of your realm during this period of time. When it's about time, I'll arrange the guards to send you to the Omen Ridge."

Afterward, both the Commandery Prince Yunwu and Zhang Ruochen left Mount King.

Zhang Ruochen went back to the Jade Palace, but he didn't see General Ge Qian.

The royal guards who were stationed at the Jade Palace were all replaced. The general in charge was massive and tanned with a beard over his face. When he saw Zhang Ruochen, he bowed and greeted him with his thick voice instantly. He said, "Your servant Gan Li greets my Ninth Prince."

Zhang Ruochen asked, "Where is General Ge Qian?"

Gan Li responded, "Ge Qian has been assigned to the Mount Emperor ancestor temple. From now on, your servant will protect my Ninth Prince. Don't worry, my Ninth Prince. My martial cultivation is above Ge Qian and I'm powerful enough to defeat three Ge Qians!"

He then showed Zhang Ruochen his sturdy arms and muscular body. The muscles on his body were like pieces of iron.

Zhang Ruochen was deep in thought. It looked like Ge Qian and the other royal guards knew that he had resonated the Chord of Gods and hence they had all been assigned to watch over at the ancestor temple.

Zhang Ruochen glanced at Gan Li and said, "I'm sure no assassin dare to come near the Jade Palace under the protection of General Gan Li!"

Having listened to Zhang Ruochen's compliment, Gan Li laughed and waved the ax in his hand, saying, "I have fought with His Majesty on the battlefield 10 times. I can even kill a savage beast with one swing of my ax. Any assassins who dare to come to the Jade Palace, I assure you I'll tear them apart!"

Zhang Ruochen nodded and went into the palace. He wanted to go to the courtyard where Le stayed and see if he had cultivated the "Nonuple Samsara Magic formula".

When he walked into the courtyard, he saw Le standing still in the middle of the court.

The bamboo leaves of the forest beside him were falling down like a rainfall of leaves.

The speed of Le releasing the sword was as fast as lightning. It had pierced through the leaves every time he struck. There were shadows of swords everywhere in the courtyard and there were sounds of swords whistling through the air.

None of the bamboo leaves that fell down on the ground was whole.

"Clap!"

Zhang Ruochen clapped his hands while walking towards Le and said, "Congratulations on upgrading your cultivation! I guess you've cultivated the first move of the 'Nonuple Samsara Magic formula'?"

Zhang Ruochen could tell that Le's cultivation had reached the Initial Stage of the Black Realm.

Le pulled back the sword instantly, sheathing it with great accuracy.

Le's sight had also fallen on Zhang Ruochen. He asked, "How about you, my benefactor? Have you reached the Initial Stage of the Black Realm?"

"I did indeed make it to the Black Realm." Zhang Ruochen nodded and asked, "So... what's your plan?"