“Your Majesty, you have overestimated the Ninth Prince, that’s why you forgot about the strategy. Otherwise, Zhao Lin, Yao Su, Zhao Wuxia, and Han Qingluo, none of them would have been set up by the Ninth Prince,” said Lin Chenyu who was sitting at a lower place.
That same day, Lin Chenyu and Lin Ningshan were called by the Queen to figure out a counterplan.
Lin Chenyu was the Seventh Prince’s servant and Lin Ningshan was his fiancee. So now the whole Lin Clan and the Queen were sort of in the same chariot.
Their futures were bound.
The Queen recovered very quickly, she was a top warrior after all. She hummed coldly and said, “You think I overestimated him? You are wrong! I underestimated him, and that’s why I was set up by him. It cost me four disciples. He’s young but he’s quite powerful. If we wait for him to develop further, what will happen?”
Lin Chenyu said, “Actually if we want to kill him, we don’t need the Seventh Prince. We don’t need to do it ourselves. Why not get some killers from the Black Market?”
“Good idea!”
With a twinkle in her eye, the Queen said, “I’ll leave this with you. If you can make it happen, the whole Lin Clan will benefit later on.”
“For this kind of stuff, you should leave it to us. I am sure that I can get you his head within the shortest period of time,” said Lin Chenyu obsequiously.
Lin Chenyu and Lin Ningshan bowed to the Queen respectfully with their knees on the ground. After that, they left the Queen’s Chamber.
The Queen was from the Xue’s which was a seventh-class family. Inside her clan, there was a Heaven Realm who led the whole clan. And the Seventh Prince was a God’s favored son.
In their eyes, if they could work for the Queen and the Seventh Prince, they would have a bright future. Besides that, the whole Lin Clan would benefit and become a powerful family in the Yunwu Commandery.
…
Ninth Commandery Princess sighed and said, “What a shame. The one who planned to rescue the prisoner, as well as the other two warriors who planned to kill you, died. They all poisoned themselves. Their bodies were corroded. We couldn’t identify them at all.”
Without a doubt, these three disciples had died because of Zhang Ruochen’s strategies.
All of them were scapegoats. They committed suicide by poisoning themselves.
Their remains were exactly the same as that of Han Qingluo.
“I’ve heard that the person who went to the jail was an Earth Realm warrior who killed more than two hundred imperial guards. If it weren’t for General Luo Tong and General Xiao Ling, she probably would have escaped. What a shame, she died as well. We could not find the person behind her,” said Yuxi.
Zhang Ruochen laughed with a thoughtful look and said, “They could send an Earth Realm warrior, I am afraid that he or she is a powerful, horrible person.”
Zhang Ruochen doubted that the person who wanted to kill him was inside the royal palace.
He went to check the recent personnel transfers in the royal palace. Unexpectedly, he found a few clues.
Last night, four of the Queen’s maids had annoyed her. So she sentenced them to death.
“What a coincidence…”
Zhang Ruochen speculated that the four maids had not been sentenced to death by the Queen. Instead, they were the four assassinators who poisoned themselves last night. The Queen had just found a proper reason to wipe them out.
However, this was just Zhang Ruochen’s speculation. Without any firm evidence, he could never prove that the assassinators had been sent by the Queen.
The Queen was powerful and was supported by a seventh-class family, the Xue’s.
With Zhang Ruochen’s current skills, if he waged a war against the Queen, it would be like using an egg to attack a stone.
“The Queen’s power is so strong that even the Yunwu Commandery Prince is somewhat afraid of her. Now I must be patient. If I am not patient, I am just killing myself.” Zhang Ruochen was 100% sure that the Queen was the person behind the assassins.
But he couldn’t kill her yet.
His cultivation was still too weak.
Zhang Ruochen frowned deeply. If the Queen intended to kill him, even though he could stay in the royal palace, his security could not be guaranteed. However, if he were to leave the palace, it would be even more dangerous.
Yuxi commented when Zhang Ruochen was lost in thought. She said, “Brother, the first deadly swordsman sent back yesterday is awake now. Would you like to have a look?”
“Really? Let’s go,” said and laughed Zhang Ruochen.
He did not plan to inform Ninth Commandery Princess of his speculation. The more she knew, the more danger would she encounter.
Meanwhile, Le was lying on his bed, covered by white cloths. He looked just like a mummy.
Although he was awake now, his gaze was blank and unfocused. People could probably not tell the difference between Le and a dead man.
“Your Highness, he hasn’t moved an inch since he woke up. He hasn’t even blinked. Is he coming towards the end of the dying process?” Whispered the Maid Yun, bowing to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen came closer to the bed and peered at Le. He shook his head slightly and said, “He’s alive but his heart is dead! For a warrior, a wound of the heart is more serious than a wound of the body. Have you applied the Muscles and Bones Regenerating Ointment? Once his limbs recover, let him go.”
After saying these words, Zhang Ruochen left.
Zhang Ruochen was planning not to think about the Queen any longer. He prepared to practice further in order to reach the Black Realm as soon as possible.
Once he reached the Black Realm, Ruochen would be able to practice the Space Domain and the mark of Time. By then, his power would have advanced rapidly.
At least, when the Queen sent others to kill him, he was able to protect himself.
In the Yunwu Commandery, Yellow Realm warriors were placed at the bottom.
Black Realm warriors were considered stronger.
Earth Realm warriors were considered the top masters. They could normally control any situation and were the Masters of Martial Arts.
As for Heaven Realm warriors, each one of them was a Martial Arts legend. It was difficult to find them, however, they represented the ultimate power of Yunwu Commandery.
If a Heaven Realm warrior wanted to, he could eliminate the entire Lin Clan in one night. As long as he could justify himself, even the official power of the Yunwu Commandery would let him go.
Heaven Realm warriors, to some extent, had surpassed the legal system.
However, if they slaughtered the innocent, they would be chased by the official power and become wanted criminals.
Apart from the hidden warriors, there were only famous Heaven Realm warriors in the Yunwu Commandery. All of them were big shots. They dominated their areas. If they stomped on the ground, the whole Commandery would shake.
That day, Zhang Ruochen, surrounded by a troop of royal guards, went to the Martial Market to purchase some Pills.
He spent fifty thousand silver coins on 20 Three-Qing Energy Pills.
He spent another sixty thousand silver coins on a Dark Blood Pill.
A Dark Blood Pill was a top Third-Class Pill. If a warrior took it when they planned to reach the Black Realm, the success rate could increase up to fifty percent.
But it was too pricy—one hundred and twenty thousand silver coins. Even princes and princesses could not afford one. This time the Qingxuan Pavilion offered Ruochen a fifty percent discount. However, even with this discount, Ruochen could only afford one.
Right now, every time Zhang Ruochen left the royal palace, he was escorted by a troop of one hundred guards.
The captain of the guards was called Ge Qian. He was the Yunwu Commandery Prince’s personal captain. He had reached the Earth Realm and was a top warrior in the Commandery.
With Ge Qian’s protection, he did not encounter any risk. After a short while, he went back to the royal palace.
Mansion, Main Palace.
“Your Majesty, the Ninth Prince is a Genius of Martial Arts. His gift is not lower than that of the Seventh Prince. With the protection of General Ge Qian, his safety is guaranteed. However, there are some disadvantages,” whispered an old eunuch.
The Commandery Prince asked, “What do you mean?”
The eunuch replied, “How could an eyas grow up and fly high in a completely safe environment? Our royal palace is too comfortable, it will not help the Ninth Prince to grow up.”
The Commandery Prince nodded slightly. “It makes sense. The Seventh Prince apprenticed to the Yuntai Suzerain and became an external student of the suzerain when he was fourteen. Two years ago, he managed to become an internal student because he was ranked first.”
“In fact, Ruochen should have reached the Completion Stage of the Yellow Realm by now. I am confident that he can reach the Initial Stage of the Black Realm very soon. Maybe he can have a chance to apprentice at the Yuntai Suzerain this year.”
The basic requirement of becoming an external student of the suzerain was reaching the Black Realm before the age of thirty.
Yenta Suzerain was a Four-class Suzerain, situated in the Omen Ridge which was a junction of the Yunwu Commandery, the Flame Dragon Commandery, and the Square Commandery. It was the largest Suzerain in the Nine Western Prefectures.
A Black Realm could only become an external student of the suzerain.
Only an Earth Realm warrior could become an internal student of the suzerain.
Six of the fourteen Heaven Realm warriors in the Yunwu Commandery were students of the Yuntai Suzerain. In other words, if a warrior could join the Yuntai Suzerain, it was definitely something to be proud of.
The eunuch shook his head slightly. “Your Majesty, I don’t think it’s proper. If the Ninth Prince joins the Yuntai Suzerain while the Seventh Prince is already there, it won’t be a good thing!”
“You’re right!”
With flames in his eyes, the Commandery Prince nodded slightly and said, “The Martial Market Bank has a School in the Omen Ridge which accepts students from the Nine Western Prefectures. Besides that, it accepts students from the Nine Eastern Prefectures, the Nine Southern Prefectures, and the Nine Northern Prefectures as well.”
“Liu Chuanshen once told me that he has strong faith in Ruochen and wanted to recommend Ruochen study at the School of the Martial Market.”
The eunuch’s eyes shone brightly now. He said, “If the Ninth Prince can achieve something in the School of the Martial Market, maybe he could be a top manager there one day. It’s going to benefit the whole Commandery.”
The Commandery Prince laughed and said, “The requirements of the School of the Martial Market are harsher and more difficult than those of the Yuntai Suzerain. An average warrior can’t get in at all.”
The eunuch laughed and said, “Your Majesty, you overthink! The Ninth Prince is at the top of the Yellow Board, and he has a reference from Liu Chuanshen, who’s the Manager of the Commandery Branch of the Martial Market Bank. In my humble opinion, the success rate can be higher than seventy percent.”
“Haha! I think it’s ninety percent!” said the Commandery Prince, “Once he reaches the Black Realm, I will ask him whether he’s interested in the School of the Martial Market or Yuntai Suzerain.”