When Zhang Ruochen came in first place among the freshmen of Western Campus, the School of the Martial Market had awarded him 3,000 merit points, which he hadn’t used yet.
He hadn’t spent any merit points as he had had no shortage of practice resources.
The place to exchange merit points was called Merit Tower.
Many students recognized Zhang Ruochen as he was entering Merit Tower. They stared at him with curiosity.
“He is elder brother Zhang, the No. 1 among the freshmen of four campuses. It’s said that he is a genius comparable to the three female devils.” With adoring eyes, a young man watched Zhang Ruochen walk into Merit Tower.
Zhang Ruochen was his idol and in his eyes, also a goal to strive for.
A beautiful woman at the Final State of the Black Realm had excitement in her eyes. “Have you heard that elder brother Zhang has recently defeated all commanderies’ top geniuses? He became a famous figure overnight!” she gushed.
“Senior sister apprentice Xu, do you have a crush on elder brother Zhang?” Another girl in white teased with a smile.
Senior sister apprentice Xu responded, “Who would not fall in love with elder brother Zhang? He is brilliant! I would even have a one-night stand with him.”
The young woman next to her smiled and said, “If you actually had an affair with elder brother Zhang, I believe senior sister apprentice Huang would definitely banish you to the ends of the earth.”
The female students from Western Campus were quite bold with their sexually explicit remarks making Zhang Ruochen feel a little bit embarrassed.
Had it not been for the deterring force of Huang Yanchen, Zhang Ruochen would have been surrounded by many female students again.
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath, tried to keep calm himself and began to pick out the items he needed in Merit Tower.
There were 13 levels in Merit Tower with each level storing various practice resources. The higher the level, the more merit points were required.
The first level offered inferior practice resources. A Second-Class Blood Pill was the cheapest. One merit point could exchange for 100 Blood Pills.
Zhang Ruochen did not lack of Blood Pills so he didn’t exchange for them.
The most expensive item in the first level was valued at no more than five merit points and was less worthy for Zhang Ruochen. Thus, he didn’t stay long and went straight to the higher levels.
Not until Zhang Ruochen arrived at the 7th level did he find the things he wanted to exchange for.
The Wings of Wind.
The Wings of Wind, looking like two conjoined silver pieces of iron, was carved with tiny inscriptions of Wind Series.
Once the Genuine Qi was injected into the Wings of Wind, it would take warriors and fly up to the sky with a terrifying speed of 100 meters per second.
It was known that a normal warrior at the Initial Stage of the Earth Realm could only reach 60 meters per second. Only strong warriors at the Medium State of the Earth Realm could increase their speed up to 100 meters per second.
The warriors who were ranked on the Profound Board were all geniuses. So their speed was comparable to that of warriors at the Initial Stage of the Earth Realm.
Zhang Ruochen was very aware that it was very dangerous to enter the middle-level heritage.
What’s the most important thing when entering the heritage?
To survive.
Anyhow, it was an exploration journey in the middle-level heritage. Zhang Ruochen had adopted a defensive strategy that emphasized on saving his life rather than risking his life.
The Wings of Wind of inferior-class quality:
A flight speed of 100 meters per second. Frequency of use, three times. Merit points for exchange, 500 merit points.
The Wings of Wind of medium-class quality:
A flight speed of 200 meters per second. Frequency of use, five times. Merit points for exchange, 5,000 merit points.
The Wings of Wind of superior-class quality:
A flight speed of 300 meters per second. Frequency of use, 10 times. Merit points for exchange, 50,000 merit points.
Zhang Ruochen had intended to exchange for one Wings of Wind of medium level so as to help him escape when he confronted savage beasts at The Completion of the Earth Realm, and monsters or heretics in the middle-level heritage.
But seeing the listed exchange price, he quickly dropped this idea.
This is ridiculously expensive!
With only 3,000 merit points in total, Zhang Ruochen didn’t have enough points to get even one Wings of Wind of medium quality.
“The Wings of Wind of inferior-class quality is not too bad but can only be used three times. Hmmm… That’s enough to save my life three times.”
Zhang Ruochen took out the token from the School of the Martial Market and placed it onto the pit of the Tactical Formation Wall.
The inscriptions carved on the token became brighter and connected with the inscriptions on the Tactical Formation Wall.
“WAAA!”
The wall opened a crack and a blue piece of Spiritual Paper was presented. It contained many flowing white characters and the carved drawings of the Wings of Wind.
With this piece of Spiritual Paper, Zhang Ruochen could receive the Wings of Wind in the Main Hall of Merit Tower.
Zhang Ruochen withdrew his token and found that 500 merit points had been deducted, leaving him with 2,500 merit points.
Zhang Ruochen continued to look for other items.
Zhang Ruochen exchanged for five Thunder Pearls.
One Thunder Pearl was worth 100 merit points. Once it detonated, it would explode like a thunderbolt.
Even a warrior at the Earth Realm would die if he was caught off guard and attacked by a Thunder Pearl.
Certainly, the speed of warriors at the Earth Realm was quite fast. They would be able to flee at their fastest speed if they saw Zhang Ruochen throw out a Thunder Pearl. Therefore, the Thunder Pearl could not hurt them at all.
They would only be killed if they were unaware of the imminent attack.
Zhang Ruochen spent another 100 merit points on one Anti-Poison Pearl.
Most toxic fog and miasma could be resisted as long as Zhang Ruochen carried the Anti-Poison Pearl. He also exchanged for one Detoxification Pill, just in case.
Zhang Ruochen also got some other practice resources and life-saving treasures, spending all his 3,000 merit points.
After returning back to Dragon Martial Temple, Zhang Ruochen stocked up enough drinking water, filling up two Spatial Rings and one Spatial Jade Bracelet.
The next morning, under the guidance of Deputy Headmaster Qing Hua, the top ten students in Western Campus began to fly deep into Omen Ridge via Qing Hua’s carriage.
The top 10 students were Luo Shuihan, Huang Yanchen, Duanmu Xingling, Tuo Muzi, Zhang Ruochen, Sikong Shu, Ju Hailan, Mo Qinglong, Cai Chen, and Zi Qian.
Eight of them were mature students who had stayed in Western Campus for more than 3 years. Only Zhang Ruochen and Zi Qian were freshmen.
Sikong Shu had a heroic character and stood on the back of the Lion-vulture. He asked, “Deputy Headmaster, are we going to the middle-level heritage at Chikong Secret Mansion?”
Deputy Headmaster Qing Hua nodded her head and confirmed. “Exactly. Needless to say, Chikong Secret Mansion is extremely dangerous. I believe all of you are well-prepared for it. Zhang Ruochen, Zi Qian, you are both freshmen, are you ready for it?”
Zhang Ruochen and Zi Qian nodded at the same time.
Established on the boundary of Omen Ridge, many savage beasts existed in Western Campus. Yet, most of them were of the first-level or second-level savage beast so it was not too dangerous.
However, located in the depths of Omen Ridge, Chikong Secret Mansion was far away from Western Campus and surrounded by barren mountains and unruly rivers. It was renowned as a terribly dangerous place with many strong and fierce savage beasts.
Once external students of the school went deep into Omen Ridge, they would eventually meet their death. It was the same even with the martial arts legends in the Heaven Realm.
The deeper they went, the higher and more precipitous the mountains and the thicker the trees became. Old vines surrounded the whole mountain like a dragon.
Some areas were covered with miasma throughout the year. When normal savage birds flew over these areas, they would inhale the poison and fall down to the ground in pieces.
The mountainous region contained many tremendous flowing rivers.
Under the water, there were ferocious river Aquatic Savage Beasts. As the young warriors flew over one of the rivers, a thunderous cry suddenly came from the river.
The river was shocked to be interrupted.
The loud noise caused tinnitus to the 10 students sitting on the back of the Lion-vulture. Luckily, their powerful cultivation was strong enough to withstand the waves. Otherwise, they would have fainted.
The powerful force surge tore up the ground around the river. A number of large ancient trees shattered into wood scraps from the power of the Genuine Qi Wave.
With a pair of flesh wings on its back and a neck as thick as a tank, a black Profound Dragon over 60 meters long flew from the river and rushed to Ning Xiaochuan and the other people in the air.
“How dare you raid our disciples from the School of the Martial Market? You are courting death!”
Standing on the Lion-vulture’s head, Deputy Headmaster Qing Hua gazed at the Profound Dragon coldly. She took out a roll of white Battle Formation and unfolded it. Then a huge light ball with a diameter of 100 meters was formed, protecting the Lion-vulture and the 10 young students inside.
“BOOM!”
Two flames shot from the bloody eyes of the Profound Dragon and exploded on the surface of the white light ball, shaking it violently.
Eyes growing colder, Deputy Headmaster Qing Hua raised up her wooden wand in hand and injected Genuine Qi into it.
The inscription inside was activated immediately. And the wooden wand grew thicker like a bowl and its length increased from two meters to 56 meters.
Deputy Headmaster Qing Hua’s old body became strong and robust with her whole skeleton bulging. With her knees slightly bent, she jumped from the head of the Lion-vulture like a striking arrow. Then, she swayed her wooden wand and knocked on the top of the Profound Dragon.
“BOOM!”
Instantly, the enormous body of the Profound Dragon plummeted down and fell into the river 300 meters below, splashing surges more than 10 meters high.
The river turned bloody. It was obvious that Deputy Headmaster Qing Hua’s hit had caused great damage to the Profound Dragon.
Displaying another bodily movement, she jumped backward on the void space and returned to the Lion-vulture’s back.
The 10 students sitting on the Lion-vulture stared at the Deputy Headmaster with great amazement.
No one had expected that the old woman, who looked so weak, who could barely walk, could unleash such amazing Martial Arts power.
After all, the Profound Dragon had been a savage beast of the fourth level, comparable with the martial arts legends at the Heaven Realm. The Profound Dragon had been badly injured and fled back to the water after only one hit from Deputy Headmaster Qing Hua.
Given this incident, Deputy Headmaster Qing Hua was estimated to be one of the strongest among the warriors at the Heaven Realm.