The final battle was between Zhang Ruochen, the Ninth Prince, versus Situ Linjiang, the first genius of the Situs.
Before the Year-end Assessment, Zhang Ruochen, who was once considered a waste, had just obtained his Sacred Mark. Yet, nobody dared to look down on him now, including Situ Linjiang, who stood across from him.
“Fight!”
Situ Linjiang groaned, and in the meantime, poured his Genuine Qi into the long spear.
The long black spear was covered with flames like a fire snake, thrusting toward Zhang Ruochen.
Situ Linjiang clearly knew that Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation and power were far beneath his own. But Zhang Ruochen’s control over his Genuine Qi and power was subtle, so he was unsettled by that.
If he wanted to defeat Zhang Ruochen, he had to attack fiercely so that he would not have the chance to fight back.
As long as Zhang Ruochen had no chance to attack, he would surely be the winner!
Situ Linjiang was indeed far more powerful than Xue Kai, and his spear technique was also perfect. But Zhang Ruochen stayed calm as usual, so there was not a trace of fear or panic on his face.
“Fire Snake!”
The spearhead was chasing Zhang Ruochen’s back like a fire snake, aiming at his heart.
Zhang Ruochen lowered his body to dodge the long spear, then suddenly he thrust the Blue Water Sword directly at Situ Linjiang’s right hand, which was holding the spear.
Situ Linjiang stepped back to duck the attack, then he struck back. He used the spear as a stick and slashed at Zhang Ruochen’s head.
Sparks fell on Zhang Ruochen before the long spear hit him. They burned little black holes on his royal boa robe.
Zhang Ruochen whispered to himself, “Such a fast response!”
There was no time to dodge it now.
“Sacred Bell Sword!”
The 11 Meridians inside Zhang Ruochen had all displayed. His Genuine Qi kept injecting into the Blue Water Sword ceaselessly to activate the two Inscriptions of Ice Series in it.
He twisted his body and countered with his sword crosswise.
“Boom!”
A nattier blue, bell-like shadow covered Zhang Ruochen’s body, and it spun fast, emitting freezing icy air.
Situ Linjiang cleaved the shadow’s surface with his spear, but a powerful force stopped him from breaking the shadow.
“He countered my attack!”
“Boom!”
The power of re-bounce made Situ Linjiang’s arm numb.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen rushed from the Bell Sword and wielded his sword at Situ Linjiang, causing an eight-meter-long Sword Breath.
“Sacred Guiding Sword!”
Another sword technique of Low Class of Spiritual.
Situ Linjiang’s face slightly changed. He immediately drew back to duck the Sword Breath, he then roared and thrust the spear at Zhang Ruochen again.
“Clap!”
The speed was so fast that it caused violent friction between the Blaze Spear and the air. The spearhead was burnt in red, dropping grains of sparks.
Zhang Ruochen did not counter Situ Linjiang directly. Instead, he jumped into the air to evade the attack.
“Stupid! One can’t borrow power to move when one is in midair. It makes you an easy target. How can you dodge my next attack?”
Then Situ Linjiang seized the chance. He also jumped into the air and stabbed Zhang Ruochen at his chest.
“Who says I can’t borrow power? I’ll use yours!”
Zhang Ruochen waved his sword continually, hitting the spear.
“Bang, Bang!”
Every time the Blue Water Sword hit the long spear, Zhang Ruochen’s direction shifted a bit. In the blink of an eye, Zhang Ruochen hit the long spear nine times with his sword.
When the ninth hit was over, Zhang Ruochen was below Situ Linjiang. Now, Situ Linjiang was in midair, becoming an easy target for Zhang Ruochen.
All those nine hits happened in a flash. Without a keen eye, one could only see a series of sword glints but had no idea of what was really going on.
“Crap!”
Situ Linjiang panicked. He did not expect that Zhang Ruochen could control his power in such an amazing way.
In just a blink, the situation was reversed.
“Boom!”
Zhang Ruochen thrust the sword.
The icy air covered the Blue Water Sword. A layer of Ice Crystals wrapped its body. The cutting edge of the sword emitted white icy air.
At this moment, Situ Linjiang had not reached the ground. He could not borrow power and, thus, he could not dodge.
“Fire Snake’s Eyes!”
Situ Linjiang clenched his teeth and also thrust his spear. The Power of Blaze broke out from the spearhead.
“Boom!”
The combat sword and the long spear hit each other. The icy air and the flame collided and made a loud crash of metal.
A great power went to Zhang Ruochen’s arm through the sword, sending him seven steps backward.
Situ Linjiang was in a more embarrassing situation. He was thrown backward and almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, he managed to hit the ground with his spear at the last moment. With the help of the reaction force, he landed smoothly on his feet.
He did not realize that his right sleeve was frozen until he got a firm foothold. He activated the Genuine Qi inside and shook his arm. The sleeve broke apart at once and fell to the ground as pieces of ice.
They went on fiercely fighting without stopping.
An old eunuch wearing a cyan uniform, who was standing behind the Yunwu Commandery Prince, said in surprise, “This is a true battle between young geniuses. It’s eye-opening! Like father, like son! Although the Ninth Prince is only at the Dawn State of the Yellow Realm, he is fighting neck-and-neck with Situ Linjiang from the Situs. That is incredible!”
“Right! A great talent takes time to cultivate. The Ninth Prince’s future achievements are beyond our imagination. Congratulations, Your Majesty. There is another great genius in the Royal Family.” A senior general wearing armor flattered him from below.
Hearing all the compliments, the Yunwu Commandery Prince was surely happy. The truth revealed itself. The Ninth Prince did have an incredible talent in Martial Arts. Had they been in the same realm, the first young genius of the Situs might have lost already!
What kind of father would not be happy when his son had incredible talent in practice?
The Yunwu Commandery Prince said with a smile, “He doesn’t have such great power by chance. Haven’t you noticed that although he is only at the Dawn State of the Yellow Realm, he’s already developed 11 Meridians?”
“What? One at the Dawn State of the Yellow Realm can develop 11 Meridians?”
The concubines, eunuchs, princes, princesses, generals, and ministers all stared at Zhang Ruochen, who was on the drill ground.
If Zhang Ruochen did not activate his Genuine Qi, nobody could quantify his Meridians. But when he was fighting Situ Linjiang, Zhang Ruochen had to give it his all. The quantification of his Meridians was exposed immediately.
Of course, only the powerful elder warriors were capable to see through it.
“11 Meridians! Really? Is Ninth Brother that strong? I remember that my Seventh Brother only developed 10 Meridians when he was at the Dawn State of the Yellow Realm.” The Ninth Commandery Princess was so shocked that her pretty eyes were wide open.
If that was not said by the Yunwu Commandery Prince, she would not have believed that there was someone even more talented than the Seventh Prince in the entire Yunwu Commandery.
The more Meridians that a warrior developed, the more powerful his Body of Martial Arts became, and hence, the more potential he obtained.
Taking the Fifth Prince as an example—He was at the Final State of the Yellow Realm, but he had only developed 12 Meridians. Therefore, even if he had reached the Completion of the Yellow Realm, he could only develop 15 Meridians at most.
Which meant that even if he could reach the Black Realm or the Earth Realm in the future, he would only have 15 Meridians inside his body. He surely could not compete with warriors that had 16 or 17 Meridians.
The more Meridians the warriors of the Yellow Realm developed, the more potential they gained.
Of course, one with 15 Meridians was already more powerful than most warriors.
“11 Meridians! He has developed 11 Meridians when he is only at the Dawn State of the Yellow Realm. How could it be possible? Does that mean that he has more potential than the Seventh Prince?” Lin Fengxian was shocked. He did not at all expect that Zhang Ruochen could be such a genius.
This was beyond genius.
Lin Ningshan asked, “Father, has he really developed 11 Meridians?”
Lin Fengxian nodded with regards. Had he known the Ninth Prince’s amazing talent, he would not have been such a jerk when Concubine Lin went back to the Lin’s Mansion to beg him.
He should not have betrothed Lin Ningshan to the Seventh Prince. After all, she could only be a concubine at best if she married the Seventh Prince. There was no chance for her to be a Lady.
But if he had betrothed Lin Ningshan to the Ninth Prince, considering the Ninth Prince’s former love for her and their kinship as cousins, she would definitely be a Lady. If they could help the Ninth Prince to become the successor to the throne, the Lins would have much greater influence in the Yunwu Commandery in the future.
But it was too late now!
“Who said the Ninth Prince couldn’t defeat Situ Linjiang? Can’t you see that the victory still hangs in the balance! Hehe!” Qin Ya smiled.
Mo Hanlin nodded. “Showing a great talent like this, the Ninth Prince may obtain a higher achievement than the Seventh Prince. The situation in the Yunwu Commandery will change a lot after the Year-end Assessment!”