“I have reached the Medium State of the Yellow Realm, but indeed, I only managed to develop 19 Meridians!”
After three days’ practice, Zhang Ruochen developed eight Meridians one by one. He finally reached the Medium State of the Yellow Realm.
The powerful Genuine Qi quickly ran through the 19 Meridians, filling his whole body, and then an unprecedented strong power came from his Meridians.
The Fifth Prince, who reached the Final State, had only developed 12 Meridians.
However, Zhang Ruochen, who just reached the Medium State, had developed 19 Meridians. It meant that his Body of Martial Arts had become exceedingly powerful.
In his last lifetime, he developed 20 Meridians when he was in the Medium State of the Yellow Realm, just one more than this time.
“I have practiced once in the Savage God’s Pool and absorbed a great deal of Power of Blood, making my body more powerful. But it still can’t compare with the one in the last lifetime. Of course, I have some advantages that I never had in the last lifetime: powerful Spiritual Power and a rich practice experience.”
“If I want to catch up with Chi Yao’s martial cultivation, I must do better than that of my last lifetime and open up more Meridians. Therefore, I need to make my body become more powerful than it was last lifetime. I have to open up all the 36 Meridians from the Graph of Meridians in the ‘Scripture of Emperor Ming’s Empyrean’.”
Zhang Ruochen walked out of the internal space of the Time and Space Spinel, cleaned up the dirt he made when he developed his Meridians, and then practiced in the yard.
“Bang! Bang!”
Once he slapped, a “Bang!” echoed in the air.
Now, even if he did not utilize the Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm, he could also exert the Strength of Sixteen Bulls.
If he utilized the Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm, he could break out the Strength of Twenty-five Bulls with the power of his palm.
With his current power, he could defeat Situ Linjiang with three palms. He also could compare well with the warriors who had reached the Completion of the Yellow Realm.
Zhang Ruochen’s combat effectiveness had advanced to a high level only in a few days.
There were more maidservants and eunuchs to serve Concubine Lin and Zhang Ruochen after they moved back to the Jade Palace.
Since his gift of Martial Arts was exposed at the Year-end Assessment, Zhang Ruochen had begun to openly practice in the courtyard.
A beautiful girl with a flush of shyness on her snow-white face, of about 15 or 16, obsessively gazed at Zhang Ruochen practicing in the courtyard. She thought. “The Ninth Prince is so excellent, and I have heard that he could even defeat the Fifth Prince and the Sixth Prince. He is regarded as a Genius of Martial Arts by the whole palace.”
Naturally, people always respected a superior.
Girls always admired the geniuses as well.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen practicing, an older maidservant with something strange flashing in her eyes slipped away from the Jade Palace to a rockery in the palace.
The maidservant knelt down and respectfully said, “Miss Han, the Ninth Prince had released himself from refining! His cultivation has reached the Medium State of the Yellow Realm!”
The girl in front of the maidservant wore a light-green dress. She was slender and appeared to be 18 or 19.
She was Han Qingluo, one of the four close female guards of the queen.
The four close female guards were also the apprentices trained by the queen. With powerful cultivations and special skills in killing, they eliminated dissidents for the queen.
The queen had ordered Han Qingluo to assassinate the Ninth Prince.
With her hands behind her back and contemptuous mirth on her face, Han Qingluo said, “At the Martial Arts competition, the cultivation of Zhang Ruochen had reached the Peak of the Dawn State of the Yellow Realm. What’s more, he had absorbed the Power of Blood in the Savage God’s Pool. It would be strange if he hadn’t reached the Medium State of the Yellow Realm with his talent.”
With a murderous look, Han Qingluo continued, “Continue to observe him, and report it to me once he leaves the palace.”
The maidservant assented. “Yes!”
After saying that, the maidservant returned to the Jade Palace.
After finishing his practice, Zhang Ruochen went back to his room and entered the internal space of the Time and Space Spinel.
Sitting with his legs crossed in the center of the internal space, Zhang Ruochen took out an Energy Pill, ate it, and started to refine.
With his current cultivation, he was able to absorb all the Pill Spirit of the Energy Pill without any waste.
It only took him two hours to absorb all of the Pill Spirit of the Energy Pill and convert it into Genuine Qi.
After Zhang Ruochen reached the Medium State, the capacity of his Qi Pool had become 10 times bigger. But only one Energy Pill’s Spirit could not increase his Genuine Qi much for his Qi Pool.
He spent another two hours absorbing the remaining two Energy Pills.
The Genuine Qi only increased by 20 percent with three Energy Pills. Zhang Ruochen would have to eat hundreds of Energy Pills to fill his Qi Pool with Genuine Qi.
“I must buy some Pills of a higher class because the Energy Pills are having a decreasing effect on me. They will be useless once I reach the Final State of the Yellow Realm.”
Both Energy Pills and Refining Powder were First-Class Pills. They had great effects on warriors in the lower realms.
But as the warriors’ cultivation increased, the effects of the First-Class Pills started decreasing, requiring warriors to eat Second-Class Pills in order to maintain their rate of practice.
Zhang Ruochen was about to leave the internal space of Time and Space Spinel to buy some Pills of a higher class when he suddenly noticed the stone platform.
On the stone platform was a scroll and a silver iron book, “The Mystery of Time and Space”.
“My cultivation has reached the Medium State of the Yellow Realm. Maybe I can open up the scroll.”
The scroll was so heavy that Zhang Ruochen could not even pick it up when he was at the Initial Stage of the Yellow Realm.
According to “The Mystery of Time and Space”, only after Zhang Ruochen reached the Dawn State of the Yellow Realm would he be able to open up the scroll.
Zhang Ruochen operated his Genuine Qi, converged it in his right arm, grasped the scroll, and slowly picked it up.
The scroll was so heavy. It had to be at least 1,000 pounds.
Zhang Ruochen controlled his power to slowly spread the scroll on the ground.
The scroll was a magnificent Catalogue of Reckless Waste with lofty mountains, torrential ancient rivers, steep cliffs, and a giant old tree in the middle of the scroll.
The old tree was atop the clouds. Its roots were as big as a mountain and as long as a dragon. Every leaf could cover a lake.
With a little smile, Zhang Ruochen shook his head and thought. “How can there be such a giant tree in the world?”
Suddenly, he heard a voice. “Who says there can’t be? You are so ignorant that even don’t recognize the divine tree called the ‘Sacred Prime Tree’ that supports the entire Kunlun’s Field. I’m really disappointed.”
Being slightly astonished, Zhang Ruochen looked around in the internal space only and found no one.
“Where did that voice come from?”
In an alert state, Zhang Ruochen asked in a sinking voice, “Who is speaking?”
The voice came again. “Can’t you see me in the painting?”
“In the painting?”
Zhang Ruochen felt astonished and asked, “Are you the Sacred Prime Tree? According to history, it was cut down in the Medieval Ancient Times.”
The sound came again. “In Medieval Ancient Times?”
Zhang Ruochen nodded and said, “The Medieval Ancient Times was around 100,000 years ago. By the way, are you really the Sacred Prime Tree? Is the legendary tree something that really exists?”
The voice said with a sigh, “How could it be? As you are saying the Sacred Prime Tree has been cut down, then how could I be a tree?”
Zhang Ruochen gazed at the scroll and asked again, “Who are you?”
The voice answered, “I’m not a human being.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Eh…”
The voice said, “I’m a cat!”
Then it continued, “You can’t look down on me. I have a famous name: the King of Slaughter. A superior like me is unable to be worn down by time. Even if 100,000 years have passed by, I will still play an important role in history. Young man, you must have heard of my name, haven’t you?”
Thinking for a while, Zhang Ruochen shook his head and replied. “No!”
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen found that there was a black cat that was as small as a grain of rice under the Sacred Prime Tree. No one could find it unless they looked carefully.
“Are you a cat or a painting?” Zhang Ruochen felt strange and asked.
It sighed. “Eh! I’ve told you, I’m the King of Slaughter. I was sealed in the scroll because I did something wrong in the past. Now, only you can release me.”
“Why am I the only one who can set you free?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“Because you have opened up the Sacred Mark of Time and Space. You can drive the power of space to open the seal of the painting. It is known that, from ancient times to now, only a few humans have developed the Sacred Mark of Time and Space. Young man, you are so lucky!”
After knowing what it was, he laughed and asked, “Why should I set you free?”